A child died and seven people were injured, including four Riverside County sheriff’s deputies, after a fire tore through a home in Moreno Valley early Sunday morning, authorities said.
The fire was reported just before 1:30 a.m. at a single-story house on the 24300 block of Dolan Drive, according to Jody Hagemann, spokeswoman with the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
Riverside County Sheriff’s deputies got there first and attempted to rescue residents who were trapped inside “the residence engulfed in flames and filled with smoke,” Moreno Valley Mayor Yxstian Gutierrez said in a statement Sunday.
The deputies were able to get two people out, Gutierrez said.
“Unfortunately, the smoke and heat prevented deputies from reentering the residence for a child who perished,” the mayor stated.
Fire officials said there were four victims rescued from the house fire, but it wasn’t clear if the fourth person was inside the house when deputies arrived.
All four victims were transported to a local hospital in serious condition, Hagemann said.
Meanwhile, the deputies who went inside the burning house were also injured and treated at a hospital, the city said in a statement.
The fire was quickly knocked down, according to officials. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
The 22-month-old child’s godmother posted a GoFundMe page to raise money for his funeral, writing, “He was sleeping at his dad’s house when the kitchen caught fire and the smoke alarms didn’t go off.”
No further details were immediately available.