Person found dead at house fire in Eagle Rock
A person was found dead at the scene of a house fire in Eagle Rock Friday morning after they reportedly ran back into the home, according to witnesses.
It took 32 firefighters around a half-hour to extinguish the fire in a single-family home located in the 1400 block of West Hepner Avenue this morning at 8:05 a.m.
Cellphone video from the scene showed flames shooting out of the home, spreading to a pine tree in the front yard.
"Three occupants escaped, but sadly, one person was found deceased inside the structure," Nicholas Prange of the LAFD said in a statement. "No other residents or firefighters were injured."
Four men, all roommates, were in the home at the time of the fire. According to witnesses, the man who ran back inside was the landlord, who was trying to receive some valuables when the flames over took him.
"When he went inside, the flames took him in. It's unfortunate, it's very sad," said Luciano Rodriguez. "When I came out it looked like it got bombed on. Like a war. I never witnessed that in my whole life."
Information was not immediately available on the identity of the fatally injured person.
One of his roommates offered a recounting of the distressing moments surrounding the fire.
"As I was walking out, the landlord was walking behind me, I grabbed him by the hand and said, 'Don't go back in there,'" said Juan Cardenas, still unsure what exactly he could've been going back for. "I have no idea. His reasoning, I just know it was the wrong idea."
He said that he contemplated running back in as well to grab the landlord, but the intensity of the flames caused him to hesitate.
As he looks back on the minutes before he was forced to run out of his home he recalls some sort of arguing outside of his door at around 8 a.m.
"The more I open the door the more smoke came in my room," he said.
"Witnesses reported no audible sounds of smoke alarms coming from inside the home," Prange said. "This serves as a sobering reminder to make sure that your living space, wherever it is, is equipped with functional smoke alarms to provide early notification of smoke/fire danger."
Prange also offered additional advice.
"While the exact circumstances remain unclear at this time, firefighters want you to remember to have an emergency plan in place with your family or others you live with, including a meeting location outside of the home, and to quickly get out and stay out," he said. "It is never a good idea to enter a burning building with no firefighting equipment to protect you."
The three men who are now displaced by the fire are being assisted by Red Cross for lodging purposes.
Investigators are working to determine if the fire was caused by a space heater inside of the home.
"I think that's probably what caused it," Cardenas said.
