Three-Alarm Blaze in Calif. Kills Two, Injures Two

April 01--A brutal three-alarm house fire in Pacifica left a man and boy dead Sunday and forced a couple to toss their infant to safety from a second-story window, authorities said.

The fire at 552 Inverness Drive was so intense that fire crews were forced out of the two-story, Cape Cod-style home, even as they searched for the two victims, whose names have not been released.

The 11 other residents of the house, including a mother and father who had to drop their baby to people below and then jump out, are without a home. The house was gutted by the flames and authorities were still working to assign a dollar amount to the damage.

Once firefighters arrived on scene they were told by residents the man and boy were still inside. Flames and smoke were spewing from doors and windows. Crews rang a second and then third alarm because they needed more help.

It took crews about 30 minutes to get control of the blaze and then resume the effort to find the missing people. The victims' bodies, which were discovered in separate areas of the house, were with the Coroner's Office. It may be a couple days to confirm the victims' names because they were so severely burned.

Fire and police investigators were probing the cause of the blaze, but released no information Sunday. So far, the fire doesn't appear to have been intentionally set, said Matt Lucett, spokesman for the North County Fire Authority.

The mother, father and infant who escaped out

a window were taken to San Francisco General Hospital to get checked. Lucett said it was simply as a precaution and added that no one else was injured.

The Red Cross was at the scene to help the displaced residents.

Contact Joshua Melvin at 650-576-9626, Follow him at Twitter.com/melvinreport.

Copyright 2012 - San Mateo County Times, Calif.