Two firefighters die in Porterville library arson fire

February 19, 2020

By CCT STAFF

Officers arrested two teens for allegedly starting a fire at the Porterville Public Library on Tuesday that killed two firefighters and was still burning Wednesday.

The fire at the city library in Porterville broke out at about 4 p.m. Everyone inside the building managed to evacuate.

Firefighters ran into major difficulty battling the blaze, as the library had no sprinklers inside and was in need of major repairs.

As of early Wednesday afternoon, the blaze still had not been fully extinguished.

Officials have confirmed the deaths of Fire Captain Raymond Figueroa, 35, and firefighter Patrick Jones, 25. Firefighters have yet to locate Jones’s body.

Both Figueroa and Jones began their careers with the Porterville Fire Department in 2017.

Fire investigators determined two 13-year-old Porterville residents intentionally set the fire. Authorities took the two teens into custody and booked them in the Tulare County Juvenile Detention facility on charges of manslaughter, arson and conspiracy.