2 children killed in California apartment fire

Associated Press

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2014 | 9:01 a.m.

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Authorities say a 6-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother were killed and their father was critically injured while trying to rescue them from an early morning apartment fire in Southern California.

Fire Department spokesman Rodd Mascis tells KNBC-TV that San Bernardino crews responded around 3 a.m. Thursday after a unit in the two-story building caught fire.

The flames were knocked down in about 20 minutes.

Mascis says the children were found unconscious huddled together behind a couch. The two were rushed to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Mascis says the father is hospitalized in critical condition.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.