2 kids killed in San Bernardino apartment fire; dad critically injured

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- Two small children were killed in an apartment fire in San Bernardino Thursday morning, and their father was critically injured. Family members say the mother was in labor at the hospital at the time of the fire.

Firefighters responded to the 260 block of W. 14th Street around 3 a.m. after a unit in the two-story building caught fire. The flames were knocked down in about 20 minutes.

"When (firefighters) arrived on scene, they could hear an adult male inside...screaming for help. They made access into the apartment, rescued that adult male from that burning apartment," said Rodd Mascis with the San Bernardino Fire Department. "Subsequently, firefighters continued on in and located two children."

Fire officials say the 2-year-old boy and 6-year-old girl were found unconscious in the living room. Paramedics tried but were unable to revive the siblings. They were transported to Arrowhead Medical Center, where they were pronounced dead.

Their father, identified by family members as Saul Leetch, was listed in critical condition. Leetch's nephew told Eyewitness News that his uncle suffered second- to third-degree burns and is "almost unrecognizable."

The little girl, Candra Leetch, was a first-grader at Lincoln Elementary School, according to the San Bernardino City Unified School District.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Authorities say that in the past, the apartment had numerous code violations, as well as fire hazards and unsafe living conditions that would prevent people from getting out quickly during an emergency.