A fire broke out Friday in a Long Beach garage that was used as an apartment and killed two little girls. The third sister is in critical condition, authorities reported.

The firefighters were notified about the blaze at approximately 2 a.m. and the 20-members firefighting squad quickly intervened and within five minutes knocked down the fire that occurred in the 1000 block of Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard, near East 11th Street, according to the sayings of Long Beach fire Capt. Mike Duree.

The dead girls were aged 6 and 10 and the third sister is 7. They were practically trapped inside the exit-less extent of the illegally converted apartment. According to a neighbor, the three sisters were just visiting their relatives and were spending the night after helping with the wrapping of Christmas presents.

The three girls were taken the hospital in critical condition. Two of them died later. The victims' older sister (17) was babysitting her sisters when the garage caught fire. She went to the neighbors, who called the fire department, said Duree. The elder sister was not hurt.

The fire department and police departments in Long Beach are still investigating the cause of the blaze.

The initial report coming from Duree informed that the 500-square-foot garage was legally converted into an apartment, but Long Beach Fire Chief Dave Ellis said later that the building had no permission for residency. The reasons were quite clear and Ellis mentioned them: only one of the two divided room had a window and a door, the structure had neither smoke detectors nor a sprinkler system.

The girls exit was blocked because the fire started in the front room which was the only one that had a door and a window.

"They would have had to go directly through the fire to flee," Duree said.

When the firefighters reached the scene and intervened, the three girls were already unconscious. The girl that survived is currently under treatment at the Long Beach Memorial Hospital.

Duree said that calling for help when a fire erupts is is very important, but the first priority would be to get everyone out of the building. “We can rebuild homes but we cannot rebuild lives," he said.