3 Family Members Die In San Jose Fire

SAN JOSE, CA — Three family members died in a fire at a San Jose apartment early Saturday morning, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office and a GoFundMe page set up to help the family.

The medical examiner's office identified 14-year-old Yvonne Le as one of the three people who died as a result of the fire reported at 4:57 a.m. Saturday at a building in the 500 block of South Ninth Street, San Jose
fire officials said.

Firefighters had rescued four people from an upstairs unit burning in the two-story apartment building. Le and a 21-year-old man died at the scene while a 48-year-old died at a hospital and the fourth victim was
listed in critical condition, fire officials said.

The names of the other two victims who died were not yet being released by the medical examiner, but a GoFundMe page created by a family friend identified the 21-year-old as Yvonne's brother Thuong Le, a mechanical engineering student at San Jose State University, and the third decedent as their mother.

The post by family friend Tammy Le said the fourth victim who survived was the father of Yvonne and Thuong Le.

The post described Yvonne Le as a sophomore at Gunderson High School and the parents as "very hardworking," with the mother working two jobs and the father working in a restaurant. The money raised will pay funeral expenses for the three family members and medical costs for the father.

Thuong "was a kind soul -- he dedicated most of his time either to school or family. We all loved him very much," Tammy Le said in the post.

Fire officials said the upstairs unit was the only one to burn at the building but the rest of the units were evacuated because of smoke and water damage.

More information about the fire, including a possible cause, was not immediately available.

— Bay City News; Image via GoFundMe