Five killed in fire in abandoned California house

[December 14, 2015]  (Reuters) - Five people were killed and another was injured in a house fire on Sunday at a residence with boards over its windows and doors in the California city of Fresno, the fire department said.

Four people died at the home and a fifth died later in hospital, media reported.

The condition of the injured person was not immediately known.

Fresno, about 170 miles south of Sacramento, has had four deadly fires this year, with eight fatalities.

The house had not had a legal tenant for years, and boards had been fixed over the windows and doors, media reported, citing Fresno Fire Department spokesman Pete Martinez.

Martinez said that the victims appeared to have entered the house through a boarded-up window that had been pried open by people who had been living there illegally. He said the victims would have had to try to escape through that same route, which was where the flames were the most intense.

(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Chris Michaud & Kim Coghill)

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