FINNEY COUNTY —The victims who died in the southwest Kansas house fire have been identified as 53-year-old Cresenciano Aguirre-Ortega and 24-year-old Viridiana Aguirre-Abarca, according to Garden City Fire Marshal Gene Robertson.
The cause of the fire was determined to be accidental due to unattended cooking.
Just after 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, fire crews were dispatched to the report of a house fire with possible trapped individuals at 613 N. 9th Street, Garden City, according to a media release.
First arriving crews found a multi-story residence with heavy fire and visible smoke. Firefighters made contact with three victims in the front yard who alerted them of additional victims inside.
Personnel entered the house to begin fire attack and search and rescue, and were met with heavy fire and intense heat. During the search, personnel located Aguirre-Ortega and Aguirre-Abarca. After retrieving them from the home, fire personnel were joined by EMS to begin life-saving measures.
The victims were loaded into ambulances and care was transferred to EMS. Just before 3a.m., the City of Holcomb Fire Department was requested to provide mutual aid. Personnel reentered the residence to complete the primary search and fire attack.
Additional fire was located in the attic and extinguished. The fire was called under control at 3:22 a.m. and turned over to Garden City Fire Investigators.
In addition to the deaths, three victims were treated for smoke inhalation, and one firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation.