Four dead in Christmas morning mobile home fire in California
(Reuters) - A mother and her three children, including a 6-month-old baby girl, died on Friday when a fire ripped through their mobile home in Southern California on Christmas morning, officials said.
Fire crews responded to 911 calls around 5:45 a.m. local time in the community of Big Bear Lake, a popular ski resort community about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.
The victims were a 34-year-old woman and her three children, who ranged from 6-months to 8-years-old. Kevin Lacy with the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner called the fire a "Christmas tragedy" on his Twitter account.
Authorities found a man, who they believed to be the woman's boyfriend, outside the home with burns, cuts and smoke inhalation suffered when he tried to rescue the family, Big Bear Fire Department spokesman Nick Bruinsma said.
The man was airlifted to a local hospital, Bruinsma said, although his condition was unknown.
Bruinsma said the fire appeared to be have been sparked accidentally, although officials had not ruled anything out. An investigation into the cause of the conflagration continued, he said.
(Reporting by Curtis Skinner in San Francisco; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
