‘We’re broken.’ Family remembers Denair father, young boys who died in house fire
The man and two boys who died in a house fire in Denair early Sunday were found together, father lying protectively atop sons, his family said.
In a phone interview Monday morning, Amber Ortega said her younger brother, 25-year-old Sergio Inostros, was shielding Mason Mulgado, 8, and Bennet Inostros, 3, “because he knew there was nothing else he could do.”
She was conveying information from her mother, Tammarie Inostros, who got on the phone briefly but could not bring herself to talk about what happened to her loved ones.
Fire crews from Denair and elsewhere around the county responded at about 1:47 a.m. to the report of a residential structure fire on the 3500 block of Fresno Avenue. They immediately learned people were believed trapped inside.
Crews entered the home to attempt a rescue but were forced to pull out because of heavy fire and the collapsing roof, according to a Denair Fire Department post on Facebook. After the fire was extinguished, investigators confirmed three victims inside.
Amber and her mother on Monday shared what they know and what they’ve been told about the fire.
Sergio was home with the boys, who were asleep. Mason and Bennet’s mom, Megan Mulgado, to whom Sergio became engaged May 10, was working the night shift at the Quik Stop on Main Street, just a tenth of a mile from home.
Tammarie also works at the store, and Sergio got in his car and dashed over there to get something from their mom, Amber said.
He, his mother and fiancee talked outside the shop for no more than a couple of minutes before Sergio returned home to sleep.
“Not even a minute after he drove away, my mom says they saw like an orange glow and smoke,” Amber said. They ran onto the street and quickly realized it was Sergio and Megan’s house burning.
Too dark, too smoky to do anything
There was no sign of Sergio, who already had gone inside. Not sure where the boys were sleeping — sometimes they slept in their bedroom, other times on a futon in the living room — the two women began breaking windows.
There was no fire in the rooms yet, Tammarie said, but the smoke was heavy and visibility was zero. “My mom and her tried to do everything they could, and they couldn’t,” Amber said.
About 45 minutes before the fire, there were illegal fireworks being shot into the air, Tammarie said. They’ve not been told anything by fire investigators about cause and origin, but they believe they overheard talk of it having started on the roof.
“The FIU and Sheriff’s Department are aware of the information regarding fireworks being ignited earlier in the evening within the community of Denair,” Dustin Bruley, Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit supervisor, told The Bee in an email Monday. “At this time, the FIU’s origin and cause investigation is still active and ongoing.”
His fiancé and mother didn’t see Sergio alive again after he left the Quik Stop to return home, but Amber said they all know what he did: He saw the home on fire and raced in without hesitation.
Tammarie said that when she and Megan got to the house, she could see the front door had been kicked open.
“He did what he was supposed to do,” Amber said of her brother. “He was a father, he was a great man, he didn’t think twice, and I’m sure he would do it again.”
The only consolation the family has, she said, is that firefighters told them the boys probably were asleep as they were overcome by the smoke and did not suffer.
The younger boy, Bennet, is the biological son of Sergio, who also leaves behind an 8-year-old daughter, Serenity, from a previous relationship.
Mason was 3 when Sergio came into his life, and he loved the child like he was his own blood, Amber added. “He ran in to grab Mason as much as he did Bennet.”
As of Monday morning, she and her mother had not seen Megan since the fire, Amber said. She spoke with Megan’s mother, who invited Tammarie to join in a meeting they were having with a grief counselor, “but my mom’s just not ready.”
Amber added about the young woman who would have been her sister-in-law, “If we’re broken, I cannot even begin in a million years to imagine how she’s feeling.”
How the public can help
A variety of benefit efforts are in place or in the works to help lay to rest Sergio, Bennet and Mason and assist their families.
Donations can be mailed to the Denair Lions, co: of the Mulgado family, P.O. Box 32, Denair CA 95316.
Donations also are being accepted at the Quik Stop, 4272 Main St.; Denair Mart, 4700 Main St.; and The Honest Choice, 4701 Main St., Suite D.
A car wash likely will be held at Denair Mart on Tuesday, Amber said, and there likely will be one at Road Dog Cycle, 4600 Main St.
Amber also has set up a gofundme account, titled “Funeral services for Sergio (jr) Inostros.”
FIU Supervisor Bruley said anyone with tips about the fire investigation is asked to call Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department Detective Gonzalez at 209-595-8686.
This story was originally published May 31, 2021 at 1:40 PM.
