Investigators look for cause of fatal fire

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By The Associated Press

NORFOLK — Investigators continued digging Tuesday for the cause of a mobile home fire that claimed the lives of five members of a Norfolk family a day earlier.

Autopsies were conducted Tuesday on Alma Ybarra and her four children who died in the fire while the only survivor of the fire, 36-year-old Jose Luis Jimenez, fought for his life at a Lincoln hospital.

Madison County Attorney Joe Smith said there was no indication that criminal activity contributed to the fire as of Tuesday morning, but he didn’t plan to release any findings until later this week.

“I want to make sure I have a great deal of confidence in what comes out,” Smith said.

Terry Zwiebel, fire marshal in Norfolk, said Monday that foul play had been ruled out as a cause of the fire.

The five victims of the fire were: Ybarra, 39, and four of her children: Rocio Lee Ozuna, 21; Jose Luis Jimenez II, 10; Jacqueline Jimenez, 6; and Eric Giovanni Jimenez, 2.

Another of Ybarra’s son, Antonio Sergio Ozuna Jr., 15, is living in Kearney and was not home at the time of the fire.

Jimenez was able to escape from the burning mobile home but remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center in Lincoln.

Ybarra and Jimenez were the parents of the three younger children but were not married, Smith said. Ybarra’s two older children had a different father.

Ybarra’s sister, Flor Jaras, said Ybarra and Jimenez were close with the kids.

“They were a family, a good family that cared about each other,” Jaras said.

Jaras said her younger sister, Alma Ybarra, loved her children deeply.

“If her children needed something or asked her for something, she would go without in order to provide for them,” Jaras said.

And Jaras said each of the children who died had their own special traits.

She said Rocio, the oldest who was deaf, was a “happy girl. She enjoyed animals and was very protective of her youngest brother.

Ten-year-old Jose was a “sweet boy who had many friends at the trailer court where they lived,” Jaras said. Although he sometimes would be teased by peers for his weight, his aunt said Jose would never retaliate.

Jackie was best friends with her younger brother, Jaras said.

“Wherever there were toys, those two could be found,” Jaras said.

The 6-year-old would also try to dress up or have her hair look like her mother’s, Jaras said.

Eric loved dogs, and when he visited the Jaras family, which had a large dog, Eric would try to ride him.

Funeral arrangements are pending.