Man fights to save grandparents, brother from California fire. ‘I feel like a failure’

Robert Trumper awoke to cries for help just before midnight as flames engulfed the home of his grandparents and younger brother.

“Grandpa, I heard him yelling, ‘I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe,’” Trumper, who had been asleep in a trailer outside the El Cajon home, told KGTV. He tried to enter through a sliding glass door but passed out from the smoke and heat.

“I went to yell, ‘I got you, I’m going to come save you.’ But I was unable to,” Trumper told KGTV.

Marilyn Trumper and Herman Trumper, both in their 80s, died in the fire Thursday, April 20, along with Ian Trumper, who was disabled, a family member told KNSD.

“When I got out of our apartment, which is in the middle, there was ashes everywhere,” neighbor Lili McFarland told the station. “And then you could see on the roof, ashes.”

Firefighters from multiple agencies responded to the”aggressive” blaze, which also burned a utility pole, KFMB reported. Neighbors reported hearing explosions.

“At some point the gas line ruptured,” Battalion Chief Michael Christiansen of San Miguel Fire & Rescue told the station.

Utility crews had to shut the line off from the street because it ruptured before reaching the meter, Christiansen told KFMB.

Firefighters pulled two people from the home and took them to a hospital, where they died, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. The third person was found dead inside the charred home.

A vehicle also burned in the fire, sheriff’s officials said.

Robert Trumper, who was treated for smoke inhalation, told KGTV his grandparents adopted him as a 6-year-old because his parents couldn’t care for him.

“They saved my life, and I feel like, I feel like a failure because I was supposed to save their lives,” he told the station.

Sheriff’s investigators are working to determine the cause of the blaze, the agency said.

El Cajon is a city of 105,000 people about 15 miles northeast of San Diego.

This story was originally published April 26, 2023 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Man fights to save grandparents, brother from California fire. ‘I feel like a failure’."