(AP) HESPERIA, Calif.

A neighbor heard the children's mother screaming for help around 1 a.m. and reported the fire, said San Bernardino County Fire Department spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.

The father and a 9-year-old boy were dead at the scene after firefighters pulled them from the home, Martinez said. A 4-year-old boy was pronounced dead at a hospital, she said.

The victims were identified as Gabriel Pineda Hernandez, 33, Gabriel Pineda, 9, and Christian Pineda, 4, said sheriff's spokeswoman Sandy Fatland.


Martinez said the unidentified mother was the first to wake up and had tried to rescue the others.

"She received lacerations to her arms and other parts of her body because she was breaking windows trying to get to her kids," she said.

The mother saved her 10-year-old daughter, who was taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in critical condition, Martinez said. The girl suffered burns and smoke inhalation.

The cause of the fire, which began on a back porch, was under investigation, Martinez said. Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze quickly, but the home was a complete loss, she said.

Hesperia is a desert community about 60 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

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