TEMPLE CITY, Calif. — Authorities have detained a man they are calling a person of interest after three people were found dead and three others were hospitalized following a house fire near Los Angeles.

The fire was reported around 5 p.m. Sunday in Temple City, about 13 miles (20 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Firefighters extinguished the flames in less than half an hour and then found three bodies inside the home, the department said.

It was not immediately clear how the men died.

The other two men encountered outside the house were taken to the hospital and treated for burns on their arms.

Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the sheriff’s department’s homicide unit said a 64-year-old man living in the home contacted deputies at the scene.

“At this point he is a person of interest,” Reynaga said. alphabet 7. “They believe he was the one who started the fire.”

Reynaga said there was a language barrier and the man only spoke Mandarin. His name was not disclosed.

No arrests were made.

It appears the people living in the home were roommates but not family members, the station reported.