21-year-old Thoute Leang returned to his burned out home this afternoon hoping to salvage anything. He found just one charred photo album and inside pictures of 25-year-old Somanie Hong, the young woman he was to marry next month and the mother of his 3-month-old daughter, Lana.
Leang tells us, "She always happy. She'd always help other people out, you know. When people in need she always helped them out. She was a happy person."
This morning no one could help Somanie. She died leaping out of a second story rear window to escape the fast-moving flames that broke out in the family's home in the 200 block of Nedro around 6:00. Leang jumped from his porch roof to the neighbor's with the infant in his arms.
Paramedics rushed Lana to the hospital along with her father. Both had to be treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire commissioner said the family had no smoke detectors so they had no warning that the fire was approaching while they slept.
"This fire was something that jumped right on top of this family. No smoke alarms in the house," said Commissioner Lloyd Ayers.
Up and down the block, Neighbors alerted each other to get out as thick black smoke filled the air.
By afternoon, a large group of friends and family from a tight-knit Cambodian community came to console Leang. They offered their help as he now plans a funeral instead of his wedding.
