Daly City Father, Son Critically Injured in Saturday-Morning Duplex Fire
DALY CITY (CBS SF) -- Firefighters pulled a man and his son from a burning apartment in Daly City Saturday morning. They were taken to a local hospital suffering critical injuries.
The blaze broke out around 8 a.m. on the ground floor unit of a duplex at 6 Bismark Street near Jefferson High School.
Upon arrival, firefighters made forcible entry into the first floor of the two-story duplex, finding heavy smoke throughout the residence with flames originating in the kitchen. Firefighters continued to search the unit and found an unconscious adult male and a 9-year-old boy in a rear bedroom.
"The first company found the building charged with smoke and they forced entry and it was a kitchen fire that they quickly extinguished," said battalion chief Todd Johnson with the North County Fire Authority.
Paramedics treated both at the scene before they were transported by ambulance to a local hospital.
Saturday afternoon, family members were trying to find out if the boy survived the fire. An uncle told KPIX the child's name is Diego. Neighbors were shaken by the news. They said Diego often played with other kids and rode his bike in front of his home.
"Oh man, that's horrible!" said neighbor Riki Kim. "That's super sad 'cause I've seen those kids before ... that's horrible."
Firefighters did not find any working smoke detectors in the apartment. In fact, firefighters had installed smoke alarms in the second floor unit. KPIX asked the landlord if there were the smoke detectors since it's required by state law. He suggested the tenants might have removed them.
Daly city police interviewed the landlord and upstairs tenants and removed the lower-unit stove as evidence.
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