Investigators look for cause of deadly warehouse fire

Fire investigators continued to search Wednesday for the cause of the warehouse blaze that killed two people just outside Galt early Tuesday morning.

Maria Hernandez, 19, of Stockton, and her daughter, Jacqueline Gonzalez, perished in the blaze. Three others were injured, with two taken to area hospitals with burns to their arms and faces, officials said.

Seven people had been sleeping inside the warehouse, where artificial flowers were stored and arranged for sale at area flea markets.

Family members of the victims said Maria Hernandez worked for her father, Jesse Hernandez, who sold the flowers and rents canopies and tables to market vendors.

It's still not clear who, if anyone, will be held liable in the matter. Steve Capps, spokesman for the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department, said it was too early to say whether anyone is liable.

Family members, including Jesse Hernandez, said Tuesday that workers regularly slept inside the structure — which did not have a smoke detector and was not built for residential use — prior to the Galt Market, which is held each Tuesday and Wednesday.

The metal warehouse is the property of the homeowner at the site. A woman who said she lived at the home declined comment about the matter Tuesday.

The fire department listed the address of the fire as 1039 S. Lincoln Way. Numbers on the side of the stucco home nearby, however, showed 1410.

Capps noted that the department must first determine the cause of the fire before it can begin to consider whether to recommend any charges against anyone involved in the tragedy.

Yet, he noted, a cause of the fire may never be determined.

An additional fund-raiser will be held Friday for the family of the victims.

A yard sale and car wash will be held in Stockton from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 7424 Lorraine Avenue at Hammer Lane, said Irma Gonzalez, the mother-in-law of Maria Hernandez and grandmother of Jacqueline Gonzalez.

She said the family will also accept donations Saturday and Sunday at the Delta College and Wilson Way flea markets.

Gonzalez said the family plans to bury their loved ones in Stockton early next week, though final arrangements had not yet been made.