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FAMILY OF 5 DIES IN BLAZE AT HOME; CALIFORNIA CITY COUPLE, SONS PERISH IN MORNING FIRE.


Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

An early morning fire claimed the lives of a young couple and their three children - including a 2-week-old infant whose lifeless body was found in the arms of his dead mother.

Found huddled together Tuesday in the master bedroom's bathroom were the bodies of Loreto Joe Ramirez, 23; his wife, Katina Ramirez, 22; and their son, Austin, born Dec. 17. In another bedroom, firefighters found the bodies of 3-year-old Christan and Necalo, who would have turned 2 on Friday.

``I just wish I could talk to them one more time,'' Adam Ramirez, Loreto's younger brother Wiki is aware of the following uses of "'Younger Brother":
  • Younger Brother (music group)
  • Younger Brother (Trinity House) - a title within the British organisation, Trinity House
, said through tears as he hugged his grandfather and mother outside the remains of the burned double-wide mobile home. ``I miss talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to"
lecture, speech

rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to
 them. The laughs we shared. The tears we cried.''

Fire officials said the 5 a.m. blaze at the Mountain View Mobile Home Park started in the home's living room and could have been caused by smoking or by an electrical problem, but that they are still investigating.

Firefighters said the mobile home was engulfed by flames when they arrived five minutes after a 911 call from a neighbor, who had been awakened by a couple who saw the flames on their way to work.

``We tried to make entry but were pushed back by the heat and smoke,'' said California City Fire Chief Robert Paris.

The couple who spotted the fire also tried to help, firefighters said.

``They tried to assist in the rescue effort as best as they could,'' said Kern County Fire Department spokesman Tommy Wofford. ``The intensity and the heat made it so that you couldn't do much.''

Fire officials called the early morning blaze the worst in California City history.

``We've had a fire fatality, but this is by far the worst,'' Paris said.

Tuesday's tragedy came only eight months after a fire at a California City resort burned four people and killed 40-year-old Kathy Lara, a mother of two.

Lara suffered burns to more than 40 percent of her body when a propane tank exploded as she was servicing it at the Silver Saddle and Ranch Club Resort. She died three weeks later. The resort suffered more than $2 million in damage.

Fire officials said the Ramirez family might have been overcome by smoke.

``The smoke gets to you before the flames,'' Wofford said. ``Mobile homes burn a lot hotter and a lot faster. It could have been a matter of minutes A Matter of Minutes is an episode from the television series The New Twilight Zone. Cast
  • Michael Wright: Adam Arkin
  • Maureen Wright:Karen Austin
  • Supervisor: Adolph Caesar
Synopsis
.''

Relatives who gathered outside the mobile home while the bodies were pulled from the embers told stories of the family and how proud they were of Loreto.

The oldest son in a family of five, Loreto began working six months ago as a shipping and receiving clerk for Scientific and Commercial Systems Corp., which handles warehousing work for NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
NASA
 in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Independent U.S.
 Dryden Flight Research Center The Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC), located inside Edwards Air Force Base, is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. On March 26, 1976 it was named in honor of the late Hugh L.  at nearby Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. .

Married two years, the Years, The

the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109]

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 Ramirezes moved into the mobile home about a year ago.

``He was starting to get settled,'' said Robert Romo, 67, Loreto Ramirez's grandfather. ``He loved his job and we were so proud of him.''

Co-workers set up a fund to pay for burial expenses.

Donations can be sent to the Ramirez/Wertman Memorial Fund, in care of Edwards Federal Credit Union, 10 South Muroc Drive, Edwards, CA 93523.

Neighbors said the family had a Christmas tree Christmas tree

Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews.
 but had taken it down a few days ago following their celebration.

Almetha Carson, 36, who moved next door two weeks earlier, evacuated herself and her children after seeing the flames. Her home wasn't damaged.

``There was a boom. Something woke me up,'' she said. ``I saw a light coming through my back window and I realized there was a fire.

``Then somebody came to the house and said get out, get out,'' she added. ``I grabbed my 5-year-old and my 13-year-old and we left.

``When I drove away from the house, it was completely in flames In Flames is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden founded in 1990. Along with Dark Tranquillity and At the Gates, they pioneered what is now known as melodic death metal. ,'' she said. ``It was so flared I thought it would catch onto my fence. It's a miracle It's a Miracle was a television show that aired on PAX-TV (now Independent Television) between September 6, 1998 and September 1, 2004.[1] Initially hosted by Richard Thomas[2], and later by Roma Downey, [3]  it didn't.''

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--Color) (Color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film"
color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour
 AV only) Loreto Joe Ramirez, his wife, Katina, and their sons, Christan, 3, left, and Necato, 2, died in Tuesday's fire along with 2-week-old Austin, not pictured "Not Pictured" is episode 22 and the season finale of season 2 of the television show Veronica Mars. It had an estimated audience size of 2.42 million US viewers on its first airing. Plot
This is the graduation episode.
.

(2--Color) (Color in AV only) A firefighter walks past the remains of the mobile home that burned in a Tuesday morning fire, killing a family of five in California City.

(3--Color) (Color in AV only) Loreto Joe Ramirez's grandfather, Robert Romo, left, brother, Adam Ramirez, and mother, Cindy Ramirez, grieve at the fire site.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News
COPYRIGHT 1997 Daily News
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 1997, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Publication:Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Date:Dec 31, 1997
Words:771
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