Parents accused of child neglect arrested after apartment fire

A 38-year-old man and a 27-year-old woman who allegedly left their three children locked alone in the bedroom of their Burbank apartment, which caught fire, were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of child neglect.

Police and fire department units were called about 2:15 a.m. to the 1600 block of Grismer Avenue, between Glenoaks Boulevard and San Fernando Boulevard, on reports of a apartment burning with several children trapped on the second floor, according to the Burbank Police Department.

Police officers entered the second-floor unit and heard the children screaming for help behind a locked bedroom door. The officers managed to force the door open and carried the children to safety.

The children — ages 3, 5 and 6 — were taken to a hospital for evaluation of non-life-threatening injuries. Five police officers were also taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation and non-life-threatening injuries, and all have been released.

Firefighters managed to douse the burning apartment, though the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Police located the children’s parents a short distance away from the apartment building. The two, later identified as Aldo Prado and Jennifer Ray, told officers they had locked their children in the bedroom and left the apartment to visit a nearby convenience store.

Prado and Ray were placed under arrest for felony child neglect and were being held on $100,000 bail. They are scheduled to appear in court on Friday.

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