Modesto man who went back into burning home to save pets dies in fire
A young man who went back into his family’s burning home to save their pets died in the fire early Friday morning.
The fire broke out at the Sunrise Village Mobile Home Park on South Seventh Street at about 4:50 a.m.
A couple, their minor children and their adult son all evacuated the home but the adult son, in his 20s, went back inside to get the family’s pets, said Dustin Bruley, supervisor of the Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit.
The man never came out and was later found deceased when firefighters searched the home.
“Typically what happens in these situations is people get into that hot smoke column and they get overwhelmed by the fire,” Bruley said. “We will have to wait for an autopsy to determine that.”
The man’s parents were also injured as a result of the fire, suffering first and second degree burns and smoke inhalation, said Modesto Fire Department Battalion Chief Darin Jesberg. Both were hospitalized.
Bruley said the cause of the fire remains under investigation but it started somewhere in the family’s mobile home and quickly spread to three other trailers.
The mobile home where the fire originated and one next to it were well involved in fire when the Modesto Fire Department arrived on scene, Jesberg said.
Downed power lines at the scene temporarily limited access until the electricity was turned off.
“Crews worked in the offensive mode to contain the fire while searching for unaccounted occupants,” Jesberg said. “A second alarm was requested, bringing additional resources to the scene.”
All four involved mobile homes are uninhabitable.
Jesberg said at least nine people have been displaced.
Crews remained at the scene mid-morning Friday recovering the body, conducting salvage, overhaul, and investigating cause and origin.
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 9:52 AM.
