SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Two children died and their father was critically injured after a fire tore through their Rancho Bernardo condominium Saturday.
The two children and their 37-year-old father were pulled from the fire reported shortly after 3 a.m. near Bernardo Center Drive and Regalo Lane. San Diego firefighters arrived within four minutes of the call and crews said the two-story condo was engulfed in flames when they arrived.
Sunday, a friend close to the family identified the children as 10-year-old Cristos Lopez and 7-year-old Isabella Lopes. The family friend provided 10News with the photos below:
A GoFundMe has been set up to raise money for medical, funeral and burial costs.
11888 Bernardo Ter residential fire. Investigators are here working to determine cause. 3 injured and transported. pic.twitter.com/3D7YMvyySH
— SDFD (@SDFD) October 28, 2017
Crews were able to knock down the flames within about 20 minutes and prevent the flames from spreading to nearby units.
When the three victims were pulled from the residence, fire crews said they were completely covered in soot.
The three victims were brought to a nearby hospital in critical condition. The two children were later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to San Diego Police.
SDPD homicide detectives were investigating the scene out of an abundance of caution following the fire. No suspects have been named and police plan to serve a search warrant to look at the evidence inside the home.
SDFD investigators are also on scene searching for the cause of the blaze. The investigation into the fire is expected to last several days, investigators said.
SDPD taping off the area near the condo with caution tape. Waiting for another update from SDFD. One adult, two kids still critical @10News pic.twitter.com/En2n7Eohea
— Laura Acevedo (@10NewsAcevedo) October 28, 2017
