Two little boys playing with matches caused the fire that killed their 2-year-old brother last week in Commerce City, a fire investigator said Monday.
The boys, ages 3 and 5, were lighting the matches in a bedroom when the bottom bunk of a bed caught fire and flames quickly spread, said South Adams County Fire Investigator Kevin Vincel. Their brother, 2-year-old Jo Jo Trujillo, died.
“At that age they really don’t know,” Vincel said, adding that there is no way to cite the children because of their ages. He declined to say where the boys had obtained the matches.
The blaze began at 6:30 a.m. Thursday at the split-level home of Cynthia and Cleto Trujillo in the 7800 block of Larkwood Street.
The couple lived there with their three sons and a daughter, whose ages ranged from 1 to 5.
A report on how the fire started and how Jo Jo died is underway, Vincel said.
One of the children woke Cynthia Trujillo to alert her to the fire. She tried using water to put it out, but the flames moved too fast.
Her husband was working out of town at the time.
Friends say the mother tried to hold the hands of all four of her children, leading them out of the house, but when she turned around, Jo Jo was not with her. Trujillo tried to go back inside and save the boy, but she was burned in the face and was forced to retreat.
Firefighters found the boy’s body almost four hours after the fire started.
Trujillo was treated for minor burns, and her surviving children were not injured.
A Wells Fargo Bank fund that was established for the family has been closed, but the All For One – One For All Foundation, founded by former Denver Nugget Calvin Natt, is paying for the boy’s funeral expenses. Contributions to the foundation can be made to 4475 S. Eagle Circle, Aurora, CO 80015.
A memorial service is at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at Horan & McConaty Chapel, 3101 South Wadsworth Blvd. in Lakewood.
Staff writer Felisa Cardona can be reached at 303-954-1219 or fcardona@denverpost.com.
