A little after 4:30 Wednesday morning firefighters received a call that two people were trapped in a South Omaha home near 28th and Vinton.
When crews arrived they found smoke coming from the basement. Fire crews pulled 21-year-old Bibiano Pacheco-Perez and 24-year-old Brenda Martinez-Palma from the basement. Both were taken to the hospital in critical condition where they later died.
Family tells KMTV that the couple lived in the basement, while other family lived upstairs. The Red Cross is now helping eight other adults and children ranging in age from 3 to 36 who were displaced by the fire.
Neighbors say at times it seemed like anywhere from 15 to 20 people were living in the two bedroom home. Omaha Building Superintendent Jay Davis says the city has never received a complaint about the home and it is legal to have that many family members under one roof.
The family living in the home rented it from another family member. Family tells KMTV the landlord's niece and her niece's boyfriend were the two people who lost their lives on Wednesday.
Investigators are still looking into what started the fire.
