Uptick in fire deaths and serious injuries reported in L.A. County as people stay home

The number of residential fires causing serious injury or death has increased as people shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles County Fire Department warned on Friday.

The announcement comes after three people, including a minor, died in two residential fires in Los Angeles County on Thursday.

Nearly two dozen firefighters were sent to the 1100 block of East Franklin Avenue in Pomona about 10:35 a.m. Thursday for an apartment fire, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Two girls were trapped in their bedrooms, with the front door blocked by fire and the windows blocked by furniture and an exterior-mounted window air conditioning unit, according to fire officials.

One of the girls died at the scene, and the other was rushed to a hospital in critical condition, the fire department reported.

That same morning, just 30 minutes earlier, county fire crews were sent to a house in the 600 block of North Rocking Horse Road in Walnut, where they found two people dead after the blaze was out, according to the department.

“The LACoFD is seeing an uptick in residential structure fires resulting in serious injury & death,” a department representative tweeted. Statistics were not immediately available.

The department encouraged everyone sheltering at home during the COVID-19 pandemic to prepare their home for a fire emergency, and visit fire.lacounty.gov/F-I-R-E for safety tips.