Mourner Killed in Blaze at Mortuary
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FRESNO — A mortuary burst into flames during an all-night funeral rite early Wednesday, killing one mourner and forcing more than 100 to flee.
The fire leveled a chapel used for traditional Hmong funerals, which officials said can last up to four days and nights.
Fire crews recovered the charred bodies of the man who was killed in the fire and the woman for whom the funeral was being conducted.
Investigators learned that some Hmong funerals include fireworks but they had no evidence that the fire stemmed from that tradition of the Southeast Asian people.
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