OAKLAND, Calif. -- A brother who raced into his burning family home early Tuesday in Oakland, died along with the disabled brother he was trying to save as flames consumed the small house and filled it with deadly smoke.
Fire officials said the bodies of Freddie Taylor, 47, and his brother Henry Taylor, 57, were found draped over each other. The blaze was reported at 1:39 a.m. in the 2600 block of 74th Avenue. It was brought under controlled by 2:41 a.m. but not before it had taken a deadly toll.
The two victims lived in the home with their mother, Carrie Taylor, 84, and four homeless individuals the family had taken in.
One of those boarders, James Washington, told KTVU that the blaze was triggered by an extension cord fire.
"I saw an extension cord on fire," he said as he sat wrapped in a blanket. "I went inside to try to put it out with a pillow -- to smother it, but it wouldn't go out. We went and got a hose and tried to fight it, but after awhile the smoke just got to us."
Resident Irving Corona said the fire began in the back of the house, near his bedroom.
"It started like from the back," he told KTVU. "My room is in the back…It was pretty intense."
Fire officials remained at the scene for hours, extinguishing hot spots and trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
Fire officials said the bodies of Freddie Taylor, 47, and his brother Henry Taylor, 57, were found draped over each other. The blaze was reported at 1:39 a.m. in the 2600 block of 74th Avenue. It was brought under controlled by 2:41 a.m. but not before it had taken a deadly toll.
The two victims lived in the home with their mother, Carrie Taylor, 84, and four homeless individuals the family had taken in.
One of those boarders, James Washington, told KTVU that the blaze was triggered by an extension cord fire.
"I saw an extension cord on fire," he said as he sat wrapped in a blanket. "I went inside to try to put it out with a pillow -- to smother it, but it wouldn't go out. We went and got a hose and tried to fight it, but after awhile the smoke just got to us."
Resident Irving Corona said the fire began in the back of the house, near his bedroom.
"It started like from the back," he told KTVU. "My room is in the back…It was pretty intense."
Fire officials remained at the scene for hours, extinguishing hot spots and trying to determine the cause of the blaze.
