Authorities confirm what brothers already knew: Dad died in Modesto house fire
Officials have confirmed the identify of a 59-year-old man who died in a Saturday fire in his west Modesto home.
The Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office confirmed Wednesday that Victor Vargas died in the fire in the 1200 block of Diablo Avenue. Firefighters responded to the fire about 4:40 a.m. His two adult sons — Bryan and Kevin — said later Saturday that they believed their dad died in the fire.
They said he lived alone in the single-family home. “He was an amazing guy,” Bryan Vargas said Sunday. “You could not have asked for a better father.”
The Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy Tuesday but did not release more details. The Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit is working to determine the fire’s cause, Modesto Deputy Chief Darin Jesberg said Wednesday.
Bryan Vargas, 25, said his dad had worked at Lawrence Livermore National Lab. Kevin Vargas, 24, has said that he visited with his dad for a few hours Friday night before leaving between 10:30 and 11 p.m.
They took his dad’s dogs — Oso, a German shepherd, and Princess, a roughly 7-pound mixed breed — on a long walk. The dogs survived the fire. They were in Kevin Vargas’ car hours after the early Saturday house fire. Vargas said then that he was taking the dogs home with him.
This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 8:35 AM.
