La Habra house fire kills man, two family dogs

Los Angeles County Fire Department investigators are trying to determine the cause of a house fire Saturday morning in La Habra that killed a 48-year-old man and two of his dogs.

A neighbor told The Times that she was in her kitchen when she heard an explosion. She stepped onto the back porch and saw black smoke roiling up from her neighbor’s house.

“My husband and I ran out,” Alisa Grace said. “There was one other person out there, calling 911, and other neighbors came out …. They ran up to the front door, knocked on the windows, hopped the fence, went in back, trying to see if anybody was in there because of all of the cars out front.”

County firefighters responded to the fire about 10:38 a.m. in the 1300 block of North Farrington Avenue, the department said. The garage was fully engulfed in flames.

The department has not identified the man whose body was found inside. A family member told KTLA that the man’s wife and children were traveling out of the country.

Two of three dogs found in the house were also dead, the station reported. The third was taken to an animal hospital.