Two 13 year old boys arrested for starting library fire that has killed two firefighters - Fresno, CA

[Dalek]

https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/article240417361.html

Firefighters killed in Porterville library blaze started by teens, authorities say

A fire broke out at the Porterville library around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday and crews worked deep into the night trying to put it out. Two firefighters died.

UPDATE: Authorities Wednesday morning confirmed that two 13-year-olds were booked on manslaughter charges connected to the fire. The firefighters were identified as Raymond Figueroa, 35, and Patrick Jones, 25.

The teens face manslaughter, arson and conspiracy charges.


ORIGINAL STORY:
Two Porterville firefighters died Tuesday night as crews struggled to put out a massive fire at the Porterville library, according to Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux.

"Prayers for the Porterville City Fire Department," Boudreaux posted on Facebook. "They have lost two brave men in a library fire this evening. The city of Porterville mourns their loss and we as a community grieve with them and their families. God bless them all."

Porterville and Tulare County firefighters began trying to knock down the flames around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday as flames engulfed the two-story library.

The library near Hockett Street and Thurman Avenue — less than a block from where the Porterville Fire Department is located — was open to the public when the fire started.

The identities of the firefighters killed were not immediately known.

Other fire crews, including from the Fresno County Fire Department, arrived later to provide assistance in the fire.

Smoke could be seen miles away coming out of the library, which was built in 1953 and for years has been a popular place for youths to visit.

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Porterville Fire Department Capt. Joanne Bear confirmed there were no sprinklers inside the library.

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Porterville firefighters died trying to save others inside burning library

Fire Capt. Raymond Figueroa, 35, and firefighter Patrick Jones, 25, were the first to arrive at the burning Porterville library and went inside to search for anyone who was trapped. They were never heard from again.

abc30.com

Officials said two teenagers were seen running from the building as the flames grew. Porterville police detectives tracked down the teens and arrested them. They have been booked into the Tulare County jail on manslaughter and arson charges.

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[Wag]

Well, that's awful. So many young lives ruined.

 

[nsilvias]

.

 

[Vilix]

Well, that's awful. So many young lives ruined.

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Not to mention the two lives lost, and the lives of their families.

 

[Wag]

Not to mention the two lives lost, and the lives of their families.

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That's what I meant.

 

[Himynameischris]

My sister lives in porterville, she could see the smoke from her backyard, so sad

 

[Fiction]

i get some kids dont like reading but this is taking it too far.

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I really don't think this is a thread for joking around.

A community lost a library, two people lost their lives, and two kids destroyed their lives.

This is incredibly tragic all around.

 

[Rizific]

porterville is like an hour and a half away from fresno. i follow local news on fb and they had confirmed the id of one of the firefighters this morning but my last understanding was that only one died :(. stupid ass fucking kids. also, no fire sprinklers in the library? thats got to be a basic part of building fire code right?

 

[Dalek]

porterville is like an hour and a half away from fresno. i follow local news on fb and they had confirmed the id of one of the firefighters this morning but my last understanding was that only one died :(. stupid ass fucking kids. also, no fire sprinklers in the library? thats got to be a basic part of building fire code right?

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Honestly I'm floored by that. My father in law has a sprinkler business here in California and I've always though that there are massive regulations....

 

[nsilvias]

I really don't think this is a thread for joking around.

A community lost a library, two people lost their lives, and two kids destroyed their lives.

This is incredibly tragic all around.

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deleted

 

[Tom Nook]

Awful :(

 

[Cels]

Honestly I'm floored by that. My father in law has a sprinkler business here in California and I've always though that there are massive regulations....

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probably grandfathered in since it was built in 1953...just a guess

 

[asmith906]

I don't understand how a building with so much flammable material that large could not have sprinkler systems. It's just downright irresponsible.

 

[Shoeless]

I do have to wonder what the motivation here for the kids was. Especially since it seemed like there was little to no preparation involved if they were seen fleeing the scene itself. Was it a spur of the moment prank thing, a dare that went too far, or some dumb suggestion that one of them got on their phone and they were like, "Yeah! Let's film ourselves doing it!"

On the one hand 13 is too young to fully appreciate the magnitude of what you've done. On the other hand, there's really no way to just slap a wrist and let this go, especially if this means one or both kids is potentially a psychopath.

 

[Darkspellmaster]

I'm assuming that the reason there was no sprinkler system is becuase the library was an older building? It says that they were running out of the building, so I have to wonder if this was a "Hey lets see if we can burn some paper in a trash can" type situation. Conspiracy charges makes me think this was planned, but what good would you do burning down a library? Are you trying to prove something to someone?

This is really depressing, really feel for the firemen and their familes and the kids families. What the hell were they thinking would happen? It's a place full of paper, and books can have very flamable material for binding and other things.

 

[Doggg]

So pointless...

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Ugh, multiple families ruined because of this, which I'm sure was some kind of dare type bullshit.

 

[Darkspellmaster]

What time did this happen anyway? Images show nightfall, was the library open when this happened? Were there other patrons there? If so that could have been even worse than what happened right now.

 

[Himynameischris]

it started around 4.30 pm and library opens till 8

 

[GMM]

I don't understand how a building with so much flammable material that large could not have sprinkler systems. It's just downright irresponsible.

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This, what the boys have done is terrible and they should face the outcome of their actions, but there is also an investigation of gross negligence that needs to be done to assess who is responsible for such lax fire proofing for such a building.

Sad situation all around.

 

[poofynamanama2]

I really don't think this is a thread for joking around.

A community lost a library, two people lost their lives, and two kids destroyed their lives.

This is incredibly tragic all around.

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Why is that people love to constantly joke about death?

 

[gitaroomanlives]

So terrible. Two dead over a fucked up attempt at curing teenage boredom. At thirteen, you should know that purposely starting a goddamn fire is bad.

 

[Fiction]

What time did this happen anyway? Images show nightfall, was the library open when this happened? Were there other patrons there? If so that could have been even worse than what happened right now.

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The article says the library was open to the public when the fire started so it's very possible people where there.

 

[Vincent Alexander]

RIP to the firefighters. I'll be curious to read the details on what these teenagers were doing that started the fire. I imagine (I hope) that this wasn't intentional---not that it brings back the 2 lost lives one way or other.

 

[Sendero]

Since the fire was started at 4pm (not at night), it's likely the kids assumed the building had anti-fire measures (hence, preventing the situation to escalate).
They might even have hoped for the books to be damaged by sprinklers.

Hope this serves as stern reminder against those kind of pranks.

 

[Vilam]

They need to spend a life time serving their community to atone for their crimes. Not sure what kind of sentence can accomplish that, but they have a long ass road ahead of them to try and balance out the horrible loss of two firefighters.

 

[PanickyFool]

porterville is like an hour and a half away from fresno. i follow local news on fb and they had confirmed the id of one of the firefighters this morning but my last understanding was that only one died :(. stupid ass fucking kids. also, no fire sprinklers in the library? thats got to be a basic part of building fire code right?

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Building code is for when the building is built. Short of legislation it is not retroactive.

This why the North West, west of I5, is incredibly dangerous to live in.

 

[Khanimus]

Terrible.

 

[DrewFu]

Very sad to hear. RIP to the firefighters.

 

[BringBackSonics]

That is horrible, RIP to the firefighters. I'll hold my tongue about the teens.

 

[Apple]

Fuck man, I used to be fascinated with fire when I was a kid, and there were a couple of times I started a fire in the bathroom trashcan of the clubhouse of the apartment complex I lived in as a kid, just to see what would happen. I was eventually caught after doing it a couple of times, and never did anything like that ever again. I now look back on that stuff with an incredible amount of guilt and shame. Fortunately no one was ever hurt, but when I read a story like this I can't help but remember some of the things I used to do as a young dumb kid who didn't really know any better, I can't help but think 'this could've been me'.

 

[smurfx]

I really don't think this is a thread for joking around.

A community lost a library, two people lost their lives, and two kids destroyed their lives.

This is incredibly tragic all around.

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unless those kids get charged as adults they will be out in a few years and ready to live their lives. those firefighters will remain dead and their families forever changed.

 

[NinjaScooter]

unless those kids get charged as adults they will be out in a few years and ready to live their lives. those firefighters will remain dead and their families forever changed.

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If the justice system was worth a single damn one would hope they could be rehabilitated.

 

[smurfx]

If the justice system was worth a single damn one would hope they could be rehabilitated.

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well all you can hope in these kinda situations is that those kids aren't complete sociopaths and at least have some remorse for the shit that they did. you cant really lock these kids up for life and those families aren't ever gonna get any sort of justice from this.

 

[Katamari]

I am interested in how these boys started the fire. Could've been something idiotic and meant no harm or just complete malevolence. It's a tragedy.

 

[asmith906]

I am interested in how these boys started the fire. Could've been something idiotic and meant no harm or just complete malevolence. It's a tragedy.

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It's kind of hard to start a fire accidentally.

 

[Soupman Prime]

At 13 you gotta understand right and wrong. We all did stupid things at that age but this shit is on another level. 2 firefighters lost when none of this should've happened.

 

[Coxy]

I work in a Library - we don't have sprinklers either. The building isn't that old so presume it's intentional? The stock would be ruined from the water. Instead we have special things that come down if there's a fire which is supposed to funnel the direction etc

 

[Dankir]

Stupid kids :@:@:@:@:@

 

[Goldenroad]

If the justice system was worth a single damn one would hope they could be rehabilitated.

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I think this is true for most crimes. I think arson and cruelty to animals are the two very strong telltale signs that a teenager is going to likely grow up to be a complete sociopath. I do agree that there is no locking these kids up forever for crimes they committed at 13, and every attempt should be made at rehabilitation. I also believe that no person that does something like this at 13 years of age is ever going to be a well adjusted member of society, but still you gotta make an effort.

 

[Kyuuji]

Awful. Rest in peace to the firefighters.

 

[NinjaScooter]

I think this is true for most crimes. I think arson and cruelty to animals are the two very strong telltale signs that a teenager is going to likely grow up to be a complete sociopath. I do agree that there is no locking these kids up forever for crimes they committed at 13, and every attempt should be made at rehabilitation. I do also believe that no person that does something like this at 13 years of age is every going to be a well adjusted member of society, but still you gotta make an effort.

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if they started the fire with the intention of somehow trapping and killing these firefighters, I'd agree with you. While I don't think it's likely a fire like this is started "accidentally" it's also possible it was a dumb mistake that quickly spiraled out of control, as fires can often do.

 

[Tom Penny]

Awful. No sprinklers is kind of crazy but I don't think restaurants and whatnot have them.

 

[Deleted member 18944]

I think arson and cruelty to animals are the two very strong telltale signs that a teenager is going to likely grow up to be a complete sociopath.

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Comments like these are unnecessary and promote an ignorance of how someone develops into a sociopath and what it even is. Animal Cruelty can absolutely be a sign of incredibly disturbing mental issues. There's no ignorance involved with something like that.

This? God, there are so many factors about it and ways this could have happened. Kids were fucking around and accidentally started the fire, kids intentionally started the fire but didn't consider what would actually happen, etc. What they did was fucked up and they are responsible for it, one hundred percent, but lets not go down this path of essentially branding people sociopaths because you think these are the signs.

 

[Goldenroad]

if they started the fire with the intention of somehow trapping and killing these firefighters, I'd agree with you. While I don't think it's likely a fire like this is started "accidentally" it's also possible it was a dumb mistake that quickly spiraled out of control, as fires can often do.

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It's possible, but I don't see them getting charged with Arson and Manslaughter if it was just a "dumb mistake", and also, I'd say if the intention was just to kill two firefighters, I don't think it would be as bad, (still bad, don't get me wrong) as trying to burn down a library full of people during the day, which is what it sounds like they might have done. I guess they weren't charged with murder or attempted murder though. I guess the lawyers can find that out.

Comments like these are unnecessary and promote an ignorance of how someone develops into a sociopath and what it even is. Animal Cruelty can absolutely be a sign of incredibly disturbing mental issues. There's no ignorance involved with something like that.

This? God, there are so many factors about it and ways this could have happened. Kids were fucking around and accidentally started the fire, kids intentionally started the fire but didn't consider what would actually happen, etc. What they did was fucked up and they are responsible for it, one hundred percent, but lets not go down this path of essentially branding people sociopaths because you think these are the signs.

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Two things. There is no ignorance involved with starting a fire at 13 years old. From the time we are all old enough to understand english, or your spoken language, you are taught DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE. That is day one shit for like every kid. They tell you it in Kindergarten and all through elementary school. I don't buy the ignorance argument, but regardless, I do agree that I shouldn't and didn't mean to necessarily brand them as sociopaths, but committing arson is definitely sociopathic behavior. And depending on the actual evidence of that case, they could definitely turn out to be sociopaths.

 

[Deleted member 52442]

Awful. No sprinklers is kind of crazy but I don't think restaurants and whatnot have them.

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Makes more sense for a library i guess, not something i would have considered

 

[ToddBonzalez]

Awful story. 13 year old boys do stupid shit without thinking through the consequences all the time. Now their lives are pretty much ruined. And obviously it's an awful situation for the firefighters and their families.

 

[sgtnosboss]

Thats fucking terrible, lives lost over what was likely a prank.

 

[Dashey10]

Long time lurker.

This is in my town. My office is literally the building next to it. I used to do an internship here, and I would get harassed by teens Everytime I'm at the desk. Got punched once because I was on the phone with someone and wasn't answering the teens question.

One of the firefighters that passed away is a family friend.

 

[Deleted member 6263]

That user is a fucking moron. Pathetic.

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Easy, no need to respond like this...