Person of interest detained after three men are found dead following house fire near Los Angeles

TEMPLE CITY, Calif. (AP) — Authorities detained a man they called a person of interest after three men were found dead and three others were hospitalized following a house fire near Los Angeles.

The blaze was reported around 5 p.m. Sunday in Temple City, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) east of downtown LA, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Firefighters extinguished the flames in less than half an hour and then discovered three bodies inside the home, the department said.

It wasn’t immediately clear how the men died.

Two other men who were encountered outside the residence were taken to a hospital for treatment of burns to their arms.

Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the sheriff’s department’s homicide unit said a 64-year-old man who lives at the home approached deputies at the scene.

“At this point he is a person of interest,” Reynaga told ABC 7. “They do believe he was the person who set the fire.”

Reynaga said there was a language barrier and the man speaks only Mandarin. His name was not released.

No arrests have been made.

It appears the people living at the home were roommates but not necessarily family members, the station reported.