Two California children die in fire as mother at hospital with labor pains

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two children died and their father was badly burned on Thursday in a fire that tore through their Southern California duplex after their pregnant mother went to a hospital with labor pains, a fire official said. Firefighters were alerted to the blaze in San Bernardino at about 3 a.m. PST when a neighbor taking his dog out noticed smoke coming from the residence and called emergency 911, said Battalion Chief Michael Bilheimer of the San Bernardino Fire Department. Firefighters found a 2-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl unconscious on the residence's heavily damaged second-level, Bilheimer said. Their father was found on the floor dazed and incoherent, possibly due to smoke inhalation, he said. All were rushed to a hospital where the children were pronounced dead and the father was admitted in critical condition, Bilheimer said. The cause of the fire in the town about 50 miles east of Los Angeles was under investigation. It appears smoke detectors were absent and the father and two children might have been sleeping when they were overcome by smoke and flames, Bilheimer said. The mother had gone to a hospital the evening before in labor, Bilheimer said. He said he has not spoken to her and does not know if she gave birth. Family friend Arlene Gonzalez told television station KTLA the children would always greet her when she visited. "They would break your heart they were so nice, good kids," she told the station. (Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Bill Trott)