Garland

Family of Four Killed in Garland House Fire Saturday

Boy, 8, survives house fire that killed his parents and two siblings

Four people, including two children under the age of six, died in a Garland house fire that started on a patio Saturday.

The victims were identified as 40-year-old Lorenzo Castillo, his 29-year-old wife Ana Castillo, Ana's 5-year-old daughter Alia and the couple's 2-year-old son Alan.

Five other people in the home escaped, including the family's 8-year-old son, according to the fire marshal.

Family members said the Castillo's, who live in Bridgeport, were visiting Lorenzo's brother, his wife and their two children at their Garland home. Other family, including Lorenzo's father, had just left town. 

They said the family had been enjoying the night together on a back patio in the hours before the fire began. 

A neighbor across the street called 911 to report the fire shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday. The homeowner tried to re-enter the home when he realized his cousin and the rest of his family were missing, but the fire was too intense.

Another neighbor said he began banging on the windows. 

"It really breaks my heart," said the neighbor, 16-year-old Anthony Cruz.

Back home in Bridgeport, their voices and laughter are missing from Ana's family home. The Castillos had recently moved in with her mother and stepfather to help care for him as he battles terminal cancer.

“I don’t hear my niece and nephew running around calling for my mom or me, saying our names like they used to. It’s too quiet,” said Ana’s sister, Brenda Mireles.

Now Ana's parents and siblings will step in to help raise her surviving son, an 8-year-old coping with the fact his parents and siblings won't be coming home.

"He'll always have us. We'll always love him," said Mireles.

Authorities traced the fire to an enclosed back patio and don't believe the blaze was intentional. The fire marshal said there was a space heater, refrigerator and other electronics in the room and a fire pit outside. The exact cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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