Another fire Sunday claimed the lives of six people, including five children, in Ohio.
Sept. 15--PITTSBURG -- A two-alarm house fire this morning has left three people dead in the blaze, Contra Costa fire officials said.
Around 12:30 a.m., crews responded to a multiple reports of a blaze at a single-story home in the 200 block of Dimaggio Avenue, Battalion Chief Lewis Broschard said.
Crews were able to knock down the fire, which appears to have started in the front room of the home, by 12:55 a.m. After hearing that there may have been occupants in the home, firefighters searched the home and were able to pull each out.
The three who died were all occupants of the home and all women over age 18, he said. Identities have not been released, as the Contra Costa coroner's is still notifying next of
kin.
The presumption is that they were sleeping, given the time of the morning, Broschard said.
Broschard points out that crews found three smoke detectors in the home, but none of them were functioning or had batteries. There were also uninstalled detectors found in the laundry room, he said.
"The real tragedy is that this could have been adverted," Broschard said. "They would have had advanced notification that there was smoke and could get out."
A neighboring home had some exterior damage from the blaze.
Fire investigators remain at the scene this morning looking for the fire's cause and a cost estimate of the damage.
For updates, check back to ContraCostaTimes.com
Contact Paul Burgarino at 925-779-7164. Follow him at Twitter.com/paulburgarino.
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