Fourteen-year-old twins and another person were killed in a house fire in California on Aug. 5 that authorities are deeming “suspicious.”
Trinh Tran, Tram Tran, and their mother became trapped in the house, on Georgia Street in Vallejo, when a large fire broke out around 2:45 a.m.
The twins’ 11-year-old sister escaped using a side window and flagged down a police officer who was driving near the scene.
“At that point they made entry. They kicked one of the side doors, made entry but the house was fully engulfed and there was really nothing they could do at that point,” Lt. Jason Potts of the Vallejo Police Department told ABC 7.
Firefighters were able to reach the twins and their mother, with one twin already dead. The other died at the hospital while the mother died at a local burn unit, reported CBS.
Investigators said the fire was suspicious and said there was an “active criminal investigation.”
Sarah Dilag, a friend of the twins, said she received a text from one of them at 2 a.m., just before the fire started. It read, “Sarah, are you awake? I’m really scared.”
Twin sisters Trinh and Tram Tran died in overnight house fire in #Vallejo. Police believe it may have been arson. pic.twitter.com/dI34kMqv7o
— Lilian Kim (@liliankim7) August 6, 2018
“It’s really sad to hear that that was her last words to me,” said Dilag as she cried.
“That she feels really scared. But I couldn’t read it because I was asleep. And I feel really bad because I didn’t respond to it.”
Dilag said that the twins’ mother was having tension with the twins’ father and police officers said they believe the fire may have been arson.
Trinh and Tram would have been sophomores at Jesse Bethel High School starting in the fall; both were musicians and they were on the wrestling team in middle school.
A number of teenagers stopped by the home to pay their respects after word circulated of the tragedy, reported ABC 7.
“They were really sweet to me. They always talked to me. One had a really fun attitude, the other was really loving and they were good girls,” said Daniel Alencastro, a friend of the twins.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Yates and Detective Poyser of the Vallejo Police Department Detective Division at (707) 648-4080.
From NTD.tv
