A south Sacramento family may not have survived an explosion that ripped through their home if it wasn't for the help of their neighbors.
Identified by neighbors as Bertha and Bernardo Garcia, the couple and their two children are being treated at UC Davis Medical Center for burns and cuts. Their home in 1900 block of 68th Avenue is a total loss Tuesday night, but firefighters said the family could have lost even more.
"I'm just glad I was home at the right time to help," Joe Brown said. Brown lives across the street from the Garcias. He said he was watching television when he heard a loud noise.
"I heard this loud boom and the boy was already outside saying, 'help my sister, help my sister,'" he explained.
Brown said he rushed towards the burning house and saw the mother and daughter stuck in a bay window, unable to escape.
"I grabbed the daughter first, because the mother was saying, 'get my daughter, get my daughter,'" Brown said.
He was able to get the daughter out of the window and to safety.
Brown said when he went back to get the mother, she was on fire.
"The neighbors from behind knocked their fence down and pulled out the water hose and literally hosed the fire off of her," neighbor Elizabeth Waldrop said as she teared up.
"He was putting her out as I was dragging her to safety," Brown explained. "I'm still in shock you know."
The Garcias are well known on their street. Shaivon Benoit said they were the first to welcome her to the neighborhood when she moved in about five years ago.
"They look out for us and we look out for them," she said.
Witnessing the Garcias' home being destroyed by a fire and their lives put in danger was even more difficult for the neighbors.
"It was hard to see the little girl with glass in her face and bleeding, the little boy with burns on his arms screaming and their hair singed," Benoit recalled. "It hurts because they are a really good family."
"To hear their cries for their mom and for their dogs, to know that you are limited," Waldrop said through tears. "So all I could do was break the windows to help get the smoke and explosion out."
"My main concern was getting them to safety," Brown said. "God gave me the strength to get them out and that's what I did."
The Garcias are out of the fire, but not out of the woods. Neighbors said the mother's injuries appear to be severe.
"She will definitely need a lot of good medical care and a lot of prayer because her kids need her," Waldrop said.
The Garcia's dogs were found and are now in a neighbor's care.
Sacramento Fire investigators said the improper use of a cleaning solvent may be to blame for the fire; the investigation is ongoing.
