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California girl, 8, rescued after Christmas tree fire leaves her trapped in bathtub

PAMONA, Calif. — Firefighters rescued an 8-year-old Pamona, California, girl this week after a Christmas tree burst into flames, trapping her in the bathroom of her family’s apartment.

According to KTLA, the Christmas tree caught fire at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, and the blaze quickly engulfed the apartment.

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Nelly Contreras, the girl’s mother, shared the harrowing experience on a GoFundMe page established to help the family recover from the blaze.

“I made several attempts to reach my daughter, I was yelling for her but the fire was raging, and I was unable to reach my baby girl,” Contreras wrote, adding, “All of sudden the electricity went out in our building, and my daughter’s screams for me stopped! I honestly lost all hope that I lost my baby girl!”

Sean Ferguson, public information officer for L.A. County Fire, told KTLA that first responders were able to use a hose line to “knock back some of the intense flames, while simultaneously additional firefighters were able to crawl on their hands and knees and do a search of the apartment.”

“It was during this search that they located one young female who was trapped and hiding inside her bathtub,” Ferguson added.

According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the girl was treated for smoke inhalation, and KTLA confirmed the child was airlifted to Children’s Hospital Orange County, where she was placed on a ventilator.

Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Ron Haralson told the Daily Bulletin that firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze in about 15 minutes.

Contreras and her daughter were reunited Sunday morning in Montclair, where they are staying with relatives, KTLA reported.