A male and a female, believed to be an elderly couple, are in critical condition after a house fire broke out in Boyle Heights Thursday morning.
Los Angeles Fire Department arrived at the 3100 block of Malabar Street shortly after 9 a.m. where a one-story home was engulfed in flames.
Fire officials say both victims were pulled out of the burning home and transported to local hospitals in grave condition.
*Updated 11:12 am
According to bystanders, the female victim was pulled out by neighbors.
Michelle Valles (@MichelleNBCLA) tweeted a photo saying, “What a story. Two strangers in Boyle Heights teamed up to rescue a woman from her burning home before LAFire arrived.”
However, authorities could not confirm reports on the rescue.
Neighbor Phillip Del Pozo says he spoke to the elderly victims yesterday when they asked to park in front of his house, but doesn’t know their names.
“All of a sudden now I have this bad thought in my mind that it was actually the last day I saw her because they were in the front trying to resuscitate her,” said Del Pozo.
Crews extinguished the blaze in 21 minutes preventing flames from spreading to nearby homes and to Malabar Street Elementary School””where school was in session.
Fire alarms went off at the school and students in 10 rooms were evacuated to secure their safety.
According to fire officials, there were no working smoke detectors inside the home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Freddy Monares contributed to this report.
