FRESNO (KMJ) — A house fire early Sunday morning in central Fresno has left five people dead.
FFD says the blaze broke out around 7am inside the home on N. Archie Ave. – near Cedar and McKinley.
Crews pulled six people out. Four were pronounced dead at the scene, one died in the hospital, and the other victim remains in a critical condition.
“This home was vacant, it was boarded up”, says Fresno Fire’s Pete Martinez. “This is obviously a problem that we’ve had in the City of Fresno and one that the City is working towards trying to remedy”.
Firefighters themselves had to force boards off the home in order to rescue those stuck inside. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Three of the victims have been identified: Anthony Zavala, 37, Irene Hinojos, 36, Monique Amaral, 28. The unidentified victims are an adult male and an adult female.
Investigators say the victims may have been staying at the house illegally because the residence had been boarded-up.
