Orinda house fire kills girl, 16 — firefighter among 3 injured

A 16-year-old girl was killed and three other people were injured, including a firefighter, when flames destroyed a home in Orinda early Sunday.

The fire broke out just before 4 a.m. inside a Spanish-style home on the 500 block of Moraga Way. The home was fully engulfed by the time firefighters got there a few minutes later, said Dennis Rein, a spokesman for the Moraga-Orinda Fire District.

Two people, a man and a teenage girl, managed to get out, but the 16-year-old was trapped inside, Rein said.

“The firefighters immediately went into rescue mode,” he said.

Two members of the fire crew got about 10 feet inside the building when it “flashed over,” meaning everything inside superheated and burst into flames all at once, Fire Chief Dave Winnacker said at a news conference Sunday.

The adobe-style brick walls and clay tile roof created an oven-like atmosphere, he said.

One firefighter suffered burns as he retreated from the inferno, which was so hot it destroyed his helmet and breathing apparatus, Rein said.

As firefighters sprayed water, part of the roof caved in. The body of the girl, whose name was not released Sunday, was found in the wreckage after the flames were knocked down, he said.

The injured firefighter was treated for seconddegree burns at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek and later released. The male and female who escaped were taken to the Bothin Burn Center at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, where they were being treated for second-degree burns, Rein said.

The girl’s mother and father were out of town when the fire broke out and are now living every parent’s worst nightmare, Rein said.

“Orinda is still a small town,” where everybody knows each other, he said. “So it’s going to be a tough one here for a while.”

“Our hearts go out to the family and community,” Winnacker said. “This is obviously a tragic event and one that we take very seriously.”