Fresno firefighters arrived at the scene to find the front of the home completely engulfed in flames. Ramona Najera was visiting with friends in the garage when they saw coming smoke from inside the house. While everyone else ran outside, her friend ran back in. "My friend ran inside because one of the boys was in the back of the house. So her and her brother ran back in there," said Najera.
Najera said she could see her friend was burned when she and her son made it outside. After that, they saw the flames. "It just went up. It just completely went up. It just turned really red really fast. I could hear the glass cracking," said Najera.
Firefighters said the fire spread quickly because of a wood shake roof. They initially had conflicting information about whether anyone was inside. "In this case, the children were reportedly in the house. Dispatch was getting calls from neighborhood saying they heard screaming in the house. So we went in and initiated the search quickly," said Battalion Chief Tony Escobedo with the Fresno Fire Department.
Though everyone made it out, the woman and child suffered serious burns all over their bodies. Making the fire even more tragic, firefighters say their injuries could have possibly been avoided. "This home has a smoke detector without batteries. Check your batteries, check your smoke detector. Make sure they're working," said Escobedo.
Firefighters say the home is a total loss. They say the adult victim is a woman in her 30's and her injuries could be life threatening. The child is eight years old and is being treated for what are described as serious burns.
NEWS BY LOCATION | ABC30 BLOGS | DISCUSSION FORUMSBECOME A FAN ON FACEBOOK | FOLLOW ABC30 ON TWITTER