By Henry K. Lee
The San Francisco Chronicle
OAKLAND, Calif. — A father of four died early Thursday in a house fire in Oakland's Fruitvale district, despite his teenage sons' efforts to save him and his wife's attempt to put out the fire with a garden hose.
Lyndon Balagot, 45, died after the fire broke out in the back of his home at 4037 Mera St. at about 2:15 a.m. Firefighters arrived to find flames shooting out of windows.
Balagot was pronounced dead at the scene.
Family members said Balagot had been cooking on a gas stove when something went awry, causing the fire. It wasn't unusual for him to cook late at night after he came home from his job in San Francisco as a parking attendant, they said.
Balagot's wife, Caridad, 45, tried to put out the fire with a garden hose but was beaten back by the flames, relatives said.
The couple's twin 16-year-old sons went back into the burning home after they escaped, but couldn't open a door separating the living room from the kitchen so they could rescue their father, relatives said.
Balagot apparently shut the door to prevent the fire from spreading to the rest of the house, said a nephew, Jenner Balagot, 29, of San Ramon. He succeeded, because the front part of the home remained untouched, while the back part was a total loss.
"I don't know if he knew his sons were on the other side of the door, trying to get it open," Jenner Balagot said.
Moises Balagot, 57, of Vallejo said his brother was a "nice guy and a family man. He's the one who drives his wife to work, cooked food in the house. He really works hard in the house."
Besides his wife and sons, Balagot lived in the three-bedroom home with his two daughters, ages 14 and 17, and his 86-year-old mother, Asuncion. All escaped the blaze unharmed.
The sons returned to the home Thursday afternoon to retrieve their belongings, including school textbooks. The white home with green trim at the corner of Mera Street and Rosedale Avenue was adorned with Christmas lights and decorations.
A neighbor, Donald Demby, 54, said Balagot "was a good father. He always spent a lot of time with his kids, playing basketball and taking them to school. It's just devastating."
Copyright 2009 San Francisco Chronicle
