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2 Found Dead Following Apartment Fire In Whittier

WHITTIER (CBSLA.com) — Two people were found dead Thursday following a fire inside a Whittier home.

The blaze was reported at 7:20 a.m. in the second-floor of an apartment over a garage in the 13500 block of Via Del Palma Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

"We seen a lot of smoke coming out, my husband tried to help my landlord to open the front door to try and get the hose inside," Hilda Ortiz, who was living in the front house, said.

Ortiz's husband was unable to make it into the home before firefighters arrived on scene.

"While they were checking for victims, they found two deceased inside the structure," LA County Fire Inspector Keith Mora told KNX1070's Margaret Carrero.

2 Found Dead Following Apartment Fire In Whittier

"You're going upstairs into a fire, it makes it a little more difficult, a little more challenging. It's one narrow stairwell you have to get hose lines in, and then you have to worry about the outside structures," a firefighter said.

The fire was knocked down at 7:35 a.m., according to officials.

Ortiz said a few hours before the incident she heard two men arguing inside the apartment.

"In my sleep I could just hear them arguing," she said. "I don't really know about what, but they were arguing pretty loud."

Police and fire investigators are investigating the incident as suspicious.

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