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A 21-month-old boy died in a house fire in Oildale, California, on June 19, 2013, after he was trapped in a back bedroom while relatives and neighbors tried to reach him, according to the Kern County Fire Department.

The county coroner's office identified the child as Aiden McDonald and reported that he died of smoke inhalation. Fire investigators said the blaze began in the bedroom where the boy's body was found.

A neighbor called 911 as smoke and flames spread through the home in the 300 block of Washington Avenue, fire officials said. Family members and people from the neighborhood forced their way inside and pulled out three other children, but heavy smoke and heat kept them from reaching the toddler.

Tanya Dotson, a cousin who lived across the street, said relatives, neighbors and strangers had all tried to get to the boy. "We did everything in our power as a family, neighbors, people we don't even know," she told BakersfieldNow. The child's mother ran back into the burning house several times and was pulled out by firefighters when they arrived, the station reported. She was hospitalized for smoke inhalation.

Crews found heavy smoke and flames at the front and side of the house when they got there, the department said. Firefighters reported that the home had no working smoke detector. In the days that followed, neighbors left stuffed animals, balloons and handwritten notes at the chain-link fence outside the property, and the family held a car wash to raise money.

On June 25, the Kern County Fire Department announced that the fire had been caused by a child playing with a lighter and a candle. No arrests were reported.