SPRING VALLEY, Calif. --
A fire killed three children, injured a teenager and destroyed their grandparent's home Wednesday night, NBC 7/39 reported.
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The fire was reported at about 10:30 p.m. not far from Highway 125 in the 9000 block of Avocado Street near Valencia Street in Spring Valley, officials said. When crews from the San Miguel Fire Department arrived, the roof was engulfed in flames.
Two grandparents got out of the home safely. An 18-year-old man escaped, but he had third-degree burns on his hands and was taken to a hospital for treatment, NBC 7/39 reported.
The grandparents said their three grandchildren, ages 7 to 11, were missing and probably still in the house, but the fire was burning too intensely for firefighters to go inside.
"With a situation like this, with the intense heat and roof collapse, the rest of the roof could go at any time," SMFD spokesman Leonard Villarreal said. "They want to proceed carefully in terms of how they proceed, who they let in right now. We don't want any additional injures."
Once crews brought the blaze under control, they entered the home. They found the body of one child in a hallway. Two other bodies were in a back bedroom, officials said.
"We can confirm they are human remains," San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokesman Ver Dayrit said. "The medical examiner's office is completing their investigation."
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
