On Sunday, November 12, at about 11:13 p.m. Mariposa Fire Services and Mariposa County sheriff deputies responded to 5699 Darrah Road, Mariposa County, to a reported residential fire with a missing person possibly inside the burning residence.  Upon arrival, brothers, Robert Bonamico and Christopher Bonamico were attempting to extinguish the fire with garden hoses.  They believed that their brother, John Daniel Bonamico (40 years old) was still inside the burning residence and they could not reach him.  Once the fire had been put out by responding fire services, John Bonamico’s believed deceased body was found inside.

The decedent and his brother, Robert, were roommates living in the double wide mobile home that had caught fire and burned.  Their brother, Christopher, lived on the same property in a home with his family.

Reportedly, after watching football on television, Robert and John went to bed with a fire burning in the home’s fireplace.  Robert awoke later to find their home on fire.  Robert shouted and awoke his brother, John.  After receiving a verbal acknowledgement that his brother was awake and was going to exit the home, Robert went outside to attempt to put the fire out with a garden hose and also ran to his Christopher’s nearby house to get help.  Once they returned to the burning home, nobody could locate John.

This fire and death is being investigated by Mariposa County Fire and the Mariposa County Sheriff’s Office.

Update: 11-14-06
Units responding to the fire came from Mariposa County Fire companies of Bootjack, Lushsmeadows and the Mariposa PUD, along with two engines from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection