Three brothers who died in fire buried

Hundreds of mourners, many of them strangers, attended funeral services today for three brothers who died in a mobile home fire Tuesday.

Closed-casket services were held at 10 a.m. at Palm Mortuary for Omar Gonzalez, 5, and brothers Orazzio, 4, and Christian, 2.

Burial was to follow at Palm Memorial Park, south of the mortuary.

Funeral director Rick Verplanck estimated 300 people attended the funeral, about 25 of them family members.

The Clark County Fire Department has started a fund drive to help the family. The amount of donations will not be known for some time, but one official said it would be in the thousands of dollars.

"The community has been very supportive. They are concerned for the family," Verplanck said.

The Rev. Sergio Garcia, of St. Christopher's Catholic Church, officiated.

Family members requested that media not be admitted into the service.

The brothers died in an early morning mobile home fire Tuesday.

Their bodies were found in two rear bedrooms of the residence in the Casa Linda mobile home park at 5250 E. Lake Mead Blvd.

Elizabeth Gonzalez, 25, escaped the fire with her 18-month-old son Iram, but was unable to save her other children.

Clark County Fire Department spokesman Steve La-Sky said there has been a tremendous outpouring of sympathy for the family, with thousands of dollars being dropped off at 18 different county fire stations.

Donations also may be mailed to: Clark County Firefighters Burn Fund, 1660 E. Flamingo Road, Las Vegas, NV 89119.

La-Sky said the cause of the fire probably never will be known.

It started in a loveseat in the northeast corner of the mobile home, where the family had lived since 1995.

La-Sky said when the fire started, Gonzalez, who is separated from her husband, attempted to round up her children and get them out of the residence but they kept running back to their bedrooms.

She escaped with her youngest son by breaking out a bedroom window. She attempted to get to the other children from the outside, but the flames were too intense.

The fire was reported at 7:27 a.m.

Gonzalez and her son were treated and released at University Medical Center.

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