Puppy dies after child playing with lighter sparks home fire

A 4-year-old child playing with a lighter caused major damage to a four-pillar, single-family home Tuesday morning in the 100 block of North Walch Street in West Porterville.

“The juvenile does not live there. He was there for day care. He was playing with a lighter and caught the couch on fire,” Loran

Blasdell, battalion chief/fire marshal with the Porterville Fire Department, said. “There was fire damage to the living room and kitchen, and smoke and heat damage to the rest of the house.”

Several neighbors said they awoke to sirens and to the commotion in the street when two Porterville Fire Department engines and numerous firefighters responded to the call.

While firefighters used hoses to fight the fire, others could be seen with axes, smashing out windows to the back of the home, while a team of four or five firefighters were seen on the front lawn fighting to save the life of a small dog.

Neighbor Sylvia Alvarez Trevino said she was cooking in her kitchen when she heard screaming. She ran outside to find the house across the street engulfed in flames.

“It’s sad that this has happened. They are a good family,” Alvarez Trevino said. “This is a terrible tragedy. We have been neighbors since 1998 — to see something like this happen hurts everyone.”

Dozens of neighbors stood on the corner of Walch Street and Tomah Avenue, across the street from the burning home, comforting the family.

“We were about to go out and when I came out I saw black smoke, pretty much billowing out the windows,” next door neighbor Rosie Gonzalez said. “I said ‘Oh my God, hurry up and get here.’ The Fire Department was not here yet. Then we saw the flames.”

The Porterville Fire Department received the call at 9:19 a.m. and arrived at the scene at 9:24 a.m., Dan Holloway, public education officer with the department, said.

“We have no dollar loss amount [yet] but there was substantial damage to the structure,” Holloway said. “No one was injured.”

However, a small dog found inside the home did not survive, Holloway said.

“Fire Department personnel did attempt to resuscitate — by doing CPR [cardiopulmonary resuscitation] but the dog died,” he said.

Family members cried as engineer Kevin Gray placed the puppy in the arms of a crying woman who said she lived in the home. She was visibly shaken and refused to give her name or a to comment.

Fire Department officials were not available at the close of business Tuesday to report the homeowner's name.

-- Contact Esther Avila at 784-5000, Ext. 1047, or eavila@portervillerecorder.com.