Two children died and their father was critically injured after a fire broke out in their their Rancho Bernardo condominium in the middle of the night early Saturday morning.
The two children, a 7-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, and their 37-year-old father were pulled from the fire reported at 3:18 a.m. by someone driving by the complex near Bernardo Center Drive and Regalo Lane. Fire crews said three were completely covered in soot. San Diego firefighters arrived within four minutes of the call and crews said the two-story condo was engulfed in flames when they got there. Fire fighters were able to knock down the flames within about 20 minutes and prevent the flames from spreading to nearby condos.
The girl was taken to Palomar Medical Center Poway and declared dead, while her brother and father were taken to UCSD Medical Center, where the boy died. Their names have not been released. The 37-year-old father is in serious condition but expected to survive, police said.
SDPD homicide detectives were investigating the scene out of an abundance of caution following the fire. No suspects have been named and police plan to serve a search warrant to look at the evidence inside the home.
San Diego Fire Rescue say the investigation into the cause of the fire could take several days because there was so much damage in the condo.
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