Teen dies in Orinda pre-dawn house fire

A 16-year-old girl died in a house fire Sunday morning on the 500 block of Moraga Way in Orinda, the Moraga-Orinda Fire District said. Two additional occupants and one firefighter suffered burn injuries and were taken to hospitals.

The firefighter, who suffered second-degree burns to his shoulders and ears, was treated and released from John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, fire district spokesman Dennis Rein said. A teenager and man who were in the home when the fire broke out were taken to St. Francis Memorial Hospital Bothin Burn Center in San Francisco with at least second-degree burns.

Firefighters responded to the fire shortly before 4 a.m. and found the single-family home heavily engulfed in flames. Rein said the first firefighters on the scene immediately began rescue attempts but were hindered by a “flash-over” when trapped gases inside the home ignited. The tile roof collapsed into the home, he said.

Nine engines brought the fire under control at 5:08 a.m. The cause and origin are under investigation.