Three die in fire despite rescue attempt by TV crew

LOS ANGELES -- Three children died in a fire Tuesday despite rescue efforts by members of a television crew that had been filming nearby and rushed in with buckets and garden hoses.

The bodies of the 4-year-old girl and boys ages 3 and 5 were found in a first-floor bedroom, where the fire appeared to have started, said Fire Department Battalion Chief Robert Franco.

Members of the crew for "The Guardian," as well as fire inspectors required to be at all filming locations, rushed two blocks to the house and tried to battle the flames with a bucket brigade, but were forced back by the heat, said Fire Department Capt. Greg King.

"Flames were coming out of the front window," said Vahan Moosekian, co-executive producer of "The Guardian."

"I heard someone say there are three people inside. I ran inside the house but the house is cut up into apartments, so where there would have been a door, there was only a wall. I started shouting for people to get out," Moosekian said.

The cause of the blaze hadn't been determined.