3 people, dog killed in San Leandro house fire with others injured, officials say

SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KGO) -- Officials say three people and a dog have died after a devastating house fire in San Leandro early Thursday morning with several others injured.

The fire broke out in a two-story multi-family home in unincorporated Alameda County just before 5:30 a.m. Alameda County Fire officials say nine people were in the home at the time of the fire. There was a report of a missing child.

They say six people were transported to the hospital with injuries and of those, two have died and one is in critical condition.

Upon search through the property, firefighters recovered a body from the home. A deceased dog was also recovered.

Officials have not released information on the ages of the victims who died.

Neighbor Gurmeet Singh says he was one the first on scene after the fire broke out. He describes a scene involving big flames.

"Very big, about 20 feet high. Two blasts, very dangerous. I saw that maybe gas cylinders blew up? I don't know," says Singh, who adds about hearing an explosion. "Very hard. Yeah, I heard that one."

"Then I saw one lady, I asked her, 'What happened? (Is) somebody inside the house?' She told me, 'Yes, my baby is inside.' I don't know if 'baby' means kid inside or boyfriend," explains Singh.

Alameda County Fire Division Chief, Randall West, says one of the challenges early on was not knowing initially how many were in the house.

"We rely on information to know exactly how many people we are looking for. But our members in the department are trained to make sure they go through every part of the house for a search and rescue effort," says West.

"When firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames. Some people evacuated on their own. Firefighters were pulling out several people," explains Alameda County Fire public affairs manager, Cheryl Hurd.

Cadaver dogs were also brought out to help fire fight crews with the investigation.

"They will be sifting through all the debris and the damage to the structure. Looking for any other potential victims that could be in the home. They will be investigating the cause of the fire and what additional circumstances may have been included in the destruction," says Alameda County Fire Chief Willie McDonald.

Throughout the afternoon, there have been strong gusts of winds in the neighborhood, which sits high on a hill. The homes are built close to each other.

One of the neighbors says he is thankful it wasn't this windy when the fire started, as the wind could easily have spread the fire to other homes.

Fire crews are continuing to determine what may have caused the fire.