4-year-old boy dies and his little brother is injured in Pasadena apartment fire

A 4-year-old boy died and his 3-year-old brother was injured in a fire that engulfed an apartment complex in Pasadena on Wednesday.

Firefighters and police responded to the apartment building at 169 E. Washington Blvd. about 2 p.m. and saw heavy flames coming from two units on the first floor, said Pasadena city spokesperson Lisa Derderian.

Neighbors tried to help people trapped on the second floor of the building using ladders before the fire spread.

About 55 firefighters helped extinguish the flames, interim Pasadena Fire Chief Bryan Frieders told KTLA-TV. They found the dead child in a lower unit. The child’s brother and their 29-year-old mother were both hospitalized “in very serious condition,� Derderian said.

It’s a “very tragic situation for the family involved and has a significant effect on our public safety personnel, many of whom have young children,� Derderian said in a statement.

She said several units in the garden-style apartment complex were damaged by fire and smoke and four families had been displaced.

Frieders said he had no reason to believe that the fire was suspicious, but had arson investigators at the scene.