OXNARD : Fire Injures Woman and Her 2 Children

A woman and her two young children were burned Friday when the living room of their Oxnard mobile home erupted in flames, authorities said.

The fire at the mobile home at 250 E. Pleasant Valley Road started shortly before 8 a.m., Oxnard Fire Chief Waylon Simmons said.

Marie Gonzales told authorities that she was working in her kitchen when she smelled smoke, rushed into the living room and saw the fire, Simmons said.

The woman tried to put out the fire with an acrylic blanket, which began melting and burned her arm, he said. Realizing that efforts to squelch the flames were futile, Gonzales grabbed her two daughters, ages 2 and 3, and fled, Simmons said.

The 2-year-old sustained third-degree burns on her right hand. The mother and her older daughter suffered second-degree burns, Simmons said. They were taken by ambulance to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, where they were treated and released, he said.

The cause of the fire, which caused an estimated $10,000 damage to the structure and $5,000 damage to its contents, is under investigation, Simmons said. It is presumed to be accidental, he said.