LA house fire leaves deaf couple, 2 girls in critical condition

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Miss-Delectable

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KESQ NewsChannel 3 Palm Springs, CA: LA house fire leaves deaf couple, 2 girls in critical condition

LOS ANGELES Firefighters in Los Angeles say they had to crawl on hands and knees to rescue a family of 13 from their burning house.

Officials say the early morning fire critically injured a deaf couple and two girls. But the rest of the family members -- trapped inside by flames and deadbolts -- were pulled out unharmed.

Some got out through the windows. But firefighters say they had to break open the locked doors to get to everyone else in time.

Among the critically injured were a 65-year-old deaf woman, who uses a wheelchair, and the woman's husband, who is also deaf and disabled.

A nine-year-old girl who jumped from a window was critically burned. And a ten-year-old girl was revived after firefighters found her without a pulse.
 
LA home fire critically injures disabled couple, two girls

AP Wire | 12/26/2006 | LA home fire critically injures disabled couple, two girls

A family of 13 was trapped in a burning house Tuesday and four people were critically injured, fire officials said.

A portable space heater may have sparked the blaze in the South Los Angeles home at about 4:40 a.m., Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

The two-bedroom home was being remodeled and the smoke alarms had been removed, while the doors were dead-bolted with locks that need keys to open from the inside, Humphrey said.

It appeared the keys were not in the doors, he said.

"We had a family that was trapped," he said.

Some family members managed to escape through windows in the one-story home because security bars on the windows had been removed for the remodeling, Humphrey said.

Arriving firefighters broke open the doors. They also had to break open a locked gate around the house.

"The whole front of the house was on fire when we first came on the scene," fire Capt. Jack Weis told KNBC-TV.

"We're literally on our hands and knees, crawling through the building, fighting fire in the heat and smoke and also looking for victims," Weis said.

Firefighters carried out a deaf woman, about 65, who needs a wheelchair, and her disabled and deaf husband, who also is about 65, Humphrey said.

It was unclear whether the couple's deafness hampered their escape but they may have been unable to hear the warning shouts of relatives, Humphrey said.

A 10-year-old girl was pulled from the home "pulseless and non-breathing" but she was revived by firefighters, Humphrey.

All three were hospitalized in critical condition with burns and smoke inhalation.

A 9-year-old girl who jumped from a front window also was in critical condition with burns on both arms to the elbow, Humphrey said.

Their identities were not immediately released.

Other family members escaped without injury.

It took 60 firefighters about a half-hour to douse the fire, which caused about $250,000 damage and destroyed the house, Humphrey said.

The American Red Cross offered to shelter the family, he said.
 
Wow, I hope they pull thru and survive the injuries.

I was a lot luckier than they were when lightening struck my apt 10 years ago. I had left just moments before it struck my apt. No one were injured but it cost my landlady a half million to get the roof fixed.
 
This was a fairly large complex of apartments and several tenants (myself included.) had to stay in a hotel paid for by Red Cross. The damage was that bad.

My mother was shocked when she saw my apt even though my father warned her the damage was pretty bad. I'll never forget the shock I got when I came back to my apartment and the roof was gone and firemen were everywhere.
 
deafskeptic said:
This was a fairly large complex of apartments and several tenants (myself included.) had to stay in a hotel paid for by Red Cross. The damage was that bad......

oh really wow ... at least you and the rest are okay!
Click to expand...
 
Oh gosh... Glad that They re out of flame house!!!
 
They probably are getting a new home built on the property compliments of the insurance industry and 13 peeps in a nest may motivate a mini-mansion upgrade from a shoebox.

Richard
 
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