July 05--RICHMOND -- Two people died and a third was injured critically in a house fire early Friday that destroyed a garage that had been converted into a living residence, fire officials said.
A man and woman in their 50s perished in the blaze on the 600 block of 21st Street, Battalion Chief Manly Moulton said. They were not identified. A 26-year-old man, tentatively identified as their son, was taken to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco in critical condition with burn injuries, Moulton said.
Fire crews were called to the blaze at 2:37 a.m. and arrived to find the converted garage in the back of the residence fully engulfed by flames, Moulton said. The one-alarm fire was under control within 10 minutes of firefighters arriving, Moulton said. Crews conducting a subsequent search inside of the residence found the man and woman deceased, he said.
The injured man was found outside the residence, Moulton said. The victims were part of a family of eight living on the property, with the parents and son in the converted garage and other family members living in the main residence.
Investigators are still trying to determine the cause, and no estimate of monetary damage to the home was available.
Check back for more details.
Bay City News Service contributed to this story. Contact Rick Hurd at 925-945-4789 and follow him at Twitter.com/3rdERH.
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