House Fire Kills Woman, Four Daughters Near Sacramento

RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. — Investigators were sifting through the charred rubble of a suburban home Sunday, trying to determine what caused the fire that killed a mother and her four daughters earlier that morning.

Firefighters were called to the suburb east of Sacramento at 1:15 a.m., where they found one girl on the porch and the mother and three other children inside, Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Jim Cooper said.

A neighbor heard cries and rushed out to find the 9-year-old on the porch, her entire body aflame. He tried hosing her off, but it was too late. She died at UC Davis Medical Center of second- and third-degree burns over 90% of her body.

Investigators were looking at the possibility of an accident or arson, Cooper said. They questioned the husband, 28-year-old Ernest Nunez, about any electrical problems or anyone who might have had a vendetta against him or his family.

Nunez was nearby, visiting friends, when the flames broke out and gutted his three-bedroom home.

The names of the deceased were not released. The other children were ages 2, 6 and 7.

Firefighters found the mother and the 2-year-old in one bedroom. Another child was in the bathroom, apparently trying to escape the flames. The third was in another bedroom.