1 Child Dies, 2nd Rescued in Blaze : Fire: Glendale police officers save a toddler in a blaze accidentally started by her 5-year-old brother. Their mother was away on an errand.

A 3-year-old girl perished, but her 18-month-old sister survived after being pulled unconscious from her crib Monday night as a fire started accidentally by their brother swept through a south Glendale apartment, officials said.

Three Glendale police officers, who arrived at the Tudor-style apartment in the 600 block of East Garfield Avenue before firefighters, were directed into the apartment by the mother, who was out on an errand when the apartment caught fire.

The officers pulled the youngest child, Charlotte Welsch, out of her crib and revived her through cardiopulmonary resuscitation. But they were unable to find her older sister, Tracy Welsch, Glendale Police spokesman Dean Durand said. Charlotte was taken to Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, where she is being treated for smoke inhalation and second-degree burns to her leg. By Tuesday evening she had improved greatly and was in good condition, hospital spokeswoman Cheryl Trinidad said.

Glendale Fire Marshal Chris Gray said the blaze broke out when James Welsch, who will be 5 years old next month, accidentally set a sofa on fire while playing in the living room with his mother’s butane lighter. As his sisters slept in the rear of the two-bedroom apartment, James ran out of the apartment, escaping injury.

The fire spread quickly, Gray said.

“In a confined space, the sofa acts like gasoline. There was very little possibility of survival for someone in the back,” he said.

Before leaving the apartment complex minutes earlier, the mother, Carrie Welsch, 28, had asked next-door neighbor Zelda Sarkisian, 46, to “keep an eye on the kids,” Sarkisian, who does not speak English, said through an interpreter. “She left the children alone almost every day while she went to the store, and each time, she asked me to watch over them.”

Carrie Welsch, Sarkisian said, had been living at the U-shaped, one-level, stucco-and-wood apartment complex--among a close-knit, mostly non-English speaking group of Armenian families--for about six months.

“She loved her children very much,” Sarkisian said.

Sarkisian said she discovered the fire when smoke started coming out of the heater vent, which is located on the wall next to Welsch’s apartment. Sarkisian was watching television.

“Some neighbors opened the door and, ‘Boom!’ The flames poured out. They couldn’t do anything but call 911,” she said.

As neighbors stood on the sidewalk screaming for help, Officer Ernie Leyva, one of three who arrived almost immediately after the call, went into the apartment next to Welsch’s--which was also on fire--but was unable to locate anyone, Durand said. Because of the language barrier, Sarkisian was unable to tell the officer about the Welsch children.

Meanwhile, James waited for his mother on the corner of Garfield and Mariposa Street until she arrived, Gray said.

When Carrie Welsch returned, she told the police officers that two of her children were trapped inside her apartment, Durand said.

Officer Art Frank climbed in through the window and pulled Charlotte out of her crib. Officer Louis Haloulakos performed CPR until the child began to breathe. They were unable to get to the other child, who was in the same bedroom farther from the window, Durand said.

The three officers were treated for smoke inhalation at Glendale Memorial Hospital and later released, Durand said.

The fire was reported at 10:19 p.m., Gray said. It spread from the Welsch dwelling, which is next to the sidewalk, through the ceiling to the adjacent unit and the arc above the entrance gate to the complex. No one else was hurt in the fire, and the remaining eight units were not damaged. Only two families had to be evacuated.

Gray estimated the damage at $100,000.

The fire was put out in 35 minutes, officials said.

Gray said all of the apartment units had smoke detectors in place, but he was still trying to determine if the device in the Welsches’ apartment went off. He said he was told neighbors did not hear the fire alarm.

Gray said James will receive psychological treatment at a juvenile fire center, mostly to help him cope with the loss of his sister.

As for the mother’s absence during the fire, Gray said: “It’s a very common situation” in apartment houses where neighbors know each other well.

Durand said that no criminal charges are likely to be brought against the mother.

Times staff writer Louis Sahagun contributed to this story.