TEMPE, Ariz. — A boy is dead after a large fire broke out at a Tempe home on Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters got calls of a home near Oleander and Henry streets on fire with multiple people inside around 2 p.m.
When crews arrived, they transported 9-year-old Jesus Garcia to a hospital, where he later died, according to the Tempe Police Department.
Tempe Fire and Medical spokeswoman Andrea Glass shared the details from a busy scene with more than 100 firefighters working together to get the fire under control.
"One person was removed from the original fire occupancy, a 9-year-old male, who was transported with life threatening injuries to a local hospital," Glass said.
A second alarm was called for firefighters to bring in additional resources to help.
The fire was under control just before 3 p.m. with about 100 firefighters on scene.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Traffic in the area was interrupted for several hours, but has since reopened.
'My heart was beating so fast, I was shaking'
Alyson Star has lived in the Tempe neighborhood for more than three decades.
She loves the area so much that she bought the duplex behind her home and rents it out to close friends, friends who no longer have a place to live after the fire broke out.
"I heard this explosion and just saw this dark gray smoke and then flames shoot up," she said.
Star was in her backyard with her contractor going over plans when she heard what sounded like a "boom" then immediately saw flames.
Those flames would quickly spread to her duplex from the initial one that caught fire while Jesus Garcia was inside.
Star initially tried rushing over to the homes but was stopped by multiple fire and police departments who told her it wasn't safe to approach and that there was a victim inside.
"I don't know if we could've gotten in and done anything, but we could've made an attempt to, or seen if we could have -- especially a child, it's heartbreaking," Star explained.
While it's unclear what started the fire, Star knows her duplex is a total loss.
"There's no way to get the smell of smoke out of there and the heat probably fractured the concrete, although I won't know that for sure so they whole thing, I'm going to start from scratch if I want to rebuild," she said.
Four people and a dog are without a home because of this fire. Tempe crews are working with their Care 7 Unit and the Red Cross to help the displaced families.
Jesus' family gathered late in the night to share prayers as they lit candles and laid flowers at the scene. No plans are in place yet for funeral arrangements.