LA JOLLA, Calif. (KGTV) – Two people were found dead and two others were taken to the hospital after a fire tore through a La Jolla home early Monday morning.
San Diego Fire-Rescue Department officials said the fire was reported at around 3:45 a.m. at a home in the 2500 block of Caminito La Paz, near La Jolla Parkway.
Responding firefighters worked to douse the two-alarm blaze but the flames completely destroyed the home’s second floor.
A fire official at the scene told ABC 10News the roof was “gone” after the home essentially “closed in.” By 6 a.m., crews were able to enter the home’s first floor through a side entrance.
As flames engulfed the house, a man and his daughter were able to escape. The man suffered unspecified burn-related injuries and was taken to the hospital. The injured man's daughter accompanied him to the hospital, but there is no word on if she sustained any injuries.
Two people were unaccounted for after the fire erupted. A family member told ABC 10News the two missing people were an 80-year-old grandfather and the injured man's other daughter, who had autism and was non-verbal.
At around 9 a.m., firefighters inside the home recovered two bodies presumed to be the two missing people.
Neighbor Pat Nissan, who lives on the same street, was concerned after learning two people were missing.
“There was screaming and yelling. I started hearing glass breaking,” Nissan told ABC 10News.
Family members said the home was occupied by the man, grandfather, and the man’s two daughters.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
