CHULA VISTA, Calif — We have a new development on the story of a devastating fire that killed two young children in Chula Vista. The father of the boys is now suing his former landlord saying that they're responsible.
James Frantz, Jesus Suro’s attorney, said Suro did everything he could to try and save his two little boys lives and has to now live every day without them.
"When his smoke detector went off upstairs, he got up, ran downstairs to try and save the boys. He went in and had to go around the house because he couldn't get in the main room. And he got in there and he got burned himself trying to save them. He couldn't get to them." Frantz said.
Miroslav and Ann Sykora, Suro’s former landlords and owners of the home are to blame.
"Flickering and short circuiting of appliances were brought to their attention. Their microwave and TV couldn't be on at the same time, one of them would go out. Switches weren't working properly," Frantz said.
The room the boys slept in used to be a garage and was turned into a living space by previous owners according to Frantz.
"Because the room was an illegal garage conversion, it lacked safety required. It was not wired as a living space. There were improper means of egress and ingress, inadequate ventilation and materials used in the property were not up to code," he said.
The Chula Vista Fire Department hasn't determined the official cause of fire. But Frantz said they're moving forward with the litigation because their independent fire and electrical experts say that the Sykora's are to blame.
"The entire room was not up to code. There was actually no fire detection system at all in the room, it's required in every room," he said.
We called the Sykora’s and they’ve been advised by their attorney’s not to comment. Their attorney wasn’t available for comment on the civil case.
The suit was filed July 8, according to Frantz. Jesus Suro was not at the announcement. His attorney said he’s still grieving.
Frantz said they’ll have a “dig out” at the home in a few weeks to continue to look for evidence that they say proves their case.
WATCH RELATED: Chula Vista house fire claims lives of two children (May 2021)