Breann Miller, 18, who lives a short distance from house number 655, said she woke up when she heard sirens from the emergency vehicles speeding through the neighborhood. The billowing black smoke from the burning mobile home sent her running down the street, where residents and emergency vehicles were gathered.

At first, Miller said she heard that every member of the family--26-year-old Jessica Young, her three children and their grandmother--had died. But as the drama unfolded, they found out that one of the children--the youngest--had died in the blaze, unable to be reached by his family or rescue crews because of the blaze. The children's grandmother suffered minor injuries in the fire, but otherwise made it out safe.

"A few of the neighbors were crying from the shock of a little kid passing away," Miller said.

According to Sunnyvale Public Safety Capt. Chuck Eaneff, the house was fully engulfed in flames by the time officers arrived on the scene.

Because neighboring houses are so close in the complex, Eaneff said fire crews were careful to not only put the fire out, but prevent it from spreading to neighboring houses. The fence dividing the house and the house directly behind it was burned, but the structure of the neighboring house was not damaged.

During a follow-up investigation, Young was arrested by public safety officers for two charges: being under the influence of a controlled substance and child endangerment likely to produce great bodily harm or death. She was booked into Santa Clara County Jail, and her two other children were placed in protective custody.

Miller and her neighbor Ruth Birkland both said they had seen the three children--all under the age of 10--playing in the street outside their house many times. Miller said all the children in the neighborhood knew the family, and many kept their distance because Young's children tended to be more mischievous, getting into trouble because they were left outside for hours at a time without supervision.

Miller said people are still talking about the fire and rumors continue to circulate. Outside the burned house, a security guard sits watch during the day, as residents continue to walk past the blackened ruins.

In addition to setting up a donation jar at Plaza Del Rey's central clubhouse for the family, Miller said some of the residents are planning to hold a memorial service for the young boy, although nothing has been formally planned.

At press time, county coroners had not released the name of the child, and the cause of the fire was unknown. Criminal and fire investigations are still under way.