San Pablo family and community mourn loss of two young men in deadly apartment fire
A tragic house fire that happened last weekend has a San Pablo family grieving the loss of two young victims and praying that the youngest survives his injuries.
There is a growing memorial outside the apartment where two young men, a 22-year-old and a teen, lost their life in the fire.
The incident happened just before 3 a.m. Sunday morning on the 2000 block of Manchester Ave. in San Pablo. All three victims had to be pulled out of the apartment by firefighters.
Family and friends are trying to process this tragedy, but are in complete disbelief.
"It's just so hard to wrap my head around," said Mariah Martinez, a friend of 22-year-old Mychel Gordon. "I can't even wrap my head around it."
Martinez has been coming to the memorial to remember her friend, writing messages on the cards left by the candles and flowers.
"That he's very much loved and -- even though his outer body shell is no longer here -- his spirit will live on forever," she said.
Mychel was the oldest in the apartment unit and died at the scene. His 15-year-old cousin -- identified by relatives as Omari Godfrey -- and Mychel's 11-year-brother Malik Gordon were taken to the hospital. Omari later died from his injuries.
"We're very devastated," said cousin Amy Jackson. "This is a huge loss."
Jackson says most of the family spends hours at the hospital everyday. Malik remains in critical condition with burns to 95% of his body.
"He's fighting," Jackson said. "He's fighting. He's putting up a good fight and we're just trying to stay strong and try to continue praying."
Staying strong has been difficult as family members are also grieving the loss of two young men.
"We never thought this would happen to us," Jackson said. "We basically need support from community leaders, anybody. We need a lot of support. We don't have anything to give them a proper burial."
Jackson says the family is grateful for the compassion they have received so far. First of all from neighbors such as Mary Louise, who alerted firefighters that there were three people in the apartment.
"I told him there were three kids upstairs," Mary Louise said. "They said they got two out but they came back and got the other one out later. They found him in the back room."
Contra Costa Fire investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire. It was contained to just the upstairs unit. Mariah Martinez said it's hard to look up and see the burned out windows where her friend lost his life.
"It's very heartbreaking and so sad," Martinez said. "This has really impacted the entire community. I feel like this has affected everyone. This is a big loss for everyone."