A baby died in an overnight three-alarm Vallejo fire that began late Wednesday night, leaving about a dozen other people displaced, and the neighborhood saddened about the tragedy.
"There was nothing we could do," said Jonathan Fields, who lives next door. "Flames were coming out of that door."
Battalion Chief Matt Fenzl said the deadly fire is now part of a joint investigation between the fire department and the police department. The family was comprised of the baby, a 4-year-old and two parents, neighbors said.
The blaze was reported at 11:30 p.m. at a building on Kathy Ellen Drive and was knocked down by 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Fenzl said.
The cause is unknown but it started in the upper units of the four-plex. A woman, presumably the baby’s mother, was taken to the hospital with cuts, firefighters said. And about a dozen other people were displaced.
Neighbor Israel Taylor said he heard an explosion and saw someone running down the street, saying "My baby's inside, my baby's inside!"
People were standing outside in the rain, praying to God that the baby is OK," he said. "We were wishing for the best but you could see the telltale signs that something was wrong."
Local
NBC Bay Area's Shawn Murphy contributed to this report.
