MURRIETA, Calif. () — A large fire broke out at a mobile home in Murrieta over the weekend, killing two young sisters and severely injuring their parents. The family also lost several pets.
A memorial of candles, flowers and pictures sits in front of what’s left of the Murrieta home. After the devastating housefire, a family of five is now reduced to a family of three. The fire took the lives of two sisters — 11 and 12 years old.
“Well, I saw the flames, and the embers were reaching straight up,” said neighbor Carlos Gonzalez.
Gonzalez lives in an apartment complex on the other side of the property. He said the fire broke out just after 4:30 a.m. on Saturday in the 41000 block of Knight Drive.
“I thought it was maybe the mom who was screaming, the dad was screaming, I could also hear like, animals, too,” Gonzalez said.
According to the Murrieta Fire Department, the mobile home, carport, three vehicles, two outbuildings and a large pine tree were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.
“The entire structure was already on fire. The large pine tree you see behind the structure was on fire. The carport was on fire,” said Chief Bernard Molloy with Murrieta Fire and Rescue.
The Murrieta Fire Department said of the five family members, three made it out of the home in time. They were all taken to the hospital for treatment.
But the fire was burning too quickly and too fiercely for them to be able to try to rescue the girls stuck inside. Ten animals also died in the fire.
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“Unfortunately, they were met with a fire environment that they could not enter, and they were not able to make entry into the home at all, and later in the incident, we did learn that two people did perish in the fire,” Molloy said.
A GoFundMe was set up to raise money for the surviving family members. People who don’t even know them stopped by the memorial to pay their respects.
“Well, for me, honestly, it’s just a chance to reflect and ask myself what’s really important,” said Pat Dunnigan from Murrieta.
“It’s heartbreaking. They were so young. They were just babies, and it hits close to home having a kid the same age who went to school with them, and everyone around this neighborhood is really close,” Gonzalez said.
The Murrieta Fire Department did not release information on how the fire started, saying it remains under investigation.
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