Man dies in San Lorenzo house fire on Thanksgiving, 9 others including 5 children escape

SAN LORENZO, Calif. (KGO) -- A deadly house fire has devastated a San Lorenzo family on this Thanksgiving holiday.

Nine people escaped the burning home, but one man did not.

Neighbors on Via Coralla noticed smoke around noon and called 911.

"When I went out there I smelled smoke and I knew it was a fire," said a next door neighbor.

"Crews got on scene within about four minutes and they found heavy smoke and flames showing out of the front of the house here," said Battalion Chief Mark Carter, Alameda County Fire Department.

Nine people escaped including five children. One man tried to go back to save a person still inside.

"He had a shirt wrapped around and he just kept trying to go back there and I was yelling at him to get out. It's not safe to do that," said the neighbor.

"Because there was so much fire and smoke coming out of the house crews had to fight their way in," explained Battalion Chief Carter.

Fire crews discovered a man dead in a back bedroom. The cause of the fire is under investigation, but appears to have started in the rear of the home.

"We don't have anything at this point that tells us it was associated with cooking or the common thing this time of year is people using the deep fryers to deep fry the turkey. Nothing of that nature," said Battalion Chief Carter.

The damage to the home is extensive. It is uninhabitable and will have to be boarded-up.

The Red Cross is assisting the displaced family and neighbors have opened their home for a Thanksgiving meal.

Family on scene was too distraught to talk. The coroner's office is working to positively identify the man who died.