UPDATE: An early morning house fire on Monday killed a Lodi resident, authorities confirmed.
The fire broke out in the rear of the two-story Westminster Place home shortly before 6 a.m., apparently from a candle left burning, and quickly went to two alarms.
Four residents and two guests reportedly made it out safely. Two were treated for minor injuries, responders said.
A Wallington firefighter later found the body of 25-year-old Ezequiel Gonzalez, who family friends said lived there with his mother, her fiancé and his daughter.
A resident said she didn’t know why he “didn’t jump out the window” to the roof next door.
Read / Add Comments
UPDATE: As news spread that the worst fears of his loved ones had come true, a 25-year-old tow truck driver killed in a Lodi house fire on Monday was remembered as a good, kind person.
Ezequiel Gonzalez was one of the real ones, said Jerry Whittaker of Hackensack, always down to help someone out and just a genuine soul. Always hurts to lose such a young friend, added trainer Brian Giraldo, who owns Rawfitness H.I.T Concepts in Lodi.
A candlelight vigil was planned for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Thomas Jefferson Middle School on 1st Street.