A Chula Vista home was destroyed Friday morning in a blaze that injured three people, including a firefighter who sustained a mild facial burn while conducting a risky search for a baby who was later discovered to already be outside the fully engulfed house, authorities said.
The fire broke out about 4:20 a.m. at a home that housed a multigenerational family on Cuyamaca Avenue near East L Street and Hilltop Drive, Chula Vista Fire Chief Harry Muns said.
Neighbors helped some of the seven family members living in the home get out before firefighters arrived, including a toddler.
The home was "well-engulfed" when fire crews first arrived, with downed electrical wires and a ruptured gas line, Muns said. And though seven occupants of the home had already escaped through a window, firefighters were told that a baby was still trapped inside.