Parents Die in Richmond Fire, Son Burned

Two parents died in a Richmond house fire Friday morning that firefighters said started in the back of a garage that had been converted into some sort of living area.

A man identified as Mearn Lee Pom, 56, and a woman identified as 50-year-old Bounkeo Viengvilai were killed in the blaze, a Contra Costa County deputy coroner said.

Richmond Fire Batallion Chief Manley Moulton told NBC Bay Area that their son, possibly in his 20s, made it out of the house on 21st Street near Roosevelt Avenue alive.

But he added that the son was taken to St. Francis Memorial's Burn Center in San Francisco and is suffering from burns on 90 percent of his body.

The fire was reported about 2:30 a.m.

A fire captain said investigators are looking into the fact that an extension cord running from the main house back to the garage might have gotten overloaded and have sparked the fire.

On Friday morning, five cars were parked in a driveway and a long red extension cord was seen snaking from the small green house to a charred garage.

Neigbor Gregory Savory said that he saw families outside on the street about 9:30 p.m. setting off fireworks, but that he had gone to sleep long before the fire broke out. He said he did not know the family well, but often saw the son walking by in the neighborhood.
 

Bay City News contributed to this report.

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