Candles blamed for Christmas Day fire that killed father, injured three

Lighted candles are believed to be the accidental cause of a Christmas Day fire in Oxnard that killed a father and critically injured his wife and their two young children, according to a preliminary investigation.

The blaze was first reported at about 3 a.m. in the 1400 block of West Guava Street, according to Assistant Chief John Colamarino of the Oxnard Fire Department.

Once fire personnel arrived at the scene, they found a fire in a converted garage unit, Colamarino said. Two people were found outside the building and two others were rescued.

Paramedics immediately performed CPR on one victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Colamarino. The incident was upgraded to a second alarm and the blaze was knocked down a short time later.

Sebastion Solis, 34, was identified as the person who died at the scene while a 44-year-old mother, a 7-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were hospitalized with burn injuries, family members told KTLA-TV Channel 5.

Two of the injured people were taken to Ventura County Medical Center and one to St. John’s Regional Medical Center, according to Colamarino. All were considered in critical condition.

According to a preliminary investigation, the cause of the fire was ruled as accidental due to the use of candles.

At least 11 people in adjoining homes were displaced by the fire. The building was one home that had been converted into three rental properties. No working smoke detectors were found in the converted garage unit where the fire started.

Jorge Ramirez, who created a GoFundMe page to raise money for funeral costs, said it was his stepfather who died in the fire and his mother and two younger siblings who were left with third-degree burns.

“I got there and it was just the worst nightmare you could ever imagine,” Ramirez told KTLA. He said Solis was “the rock” who kept his family together.

“From the bottom of my heart it hurts writing this because I never expected this but you never know what you’re going to go through in life,” Ramirez wrote on the GoFundMe page.