Los Angeles Firefighters Rescue Victims From Sun Valley House Blaze

SUN VALLEY - Los Angeles Firefighters quickly extinguish a house blaze that injured five, one critically.

Summoned by a 9-1-1 call at 12:18 AM on November 10, 2012, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded quickly to 8919 Stanwin Avenue in Sun Valley, to discover a one-story residence, with heavy fire showing. The structure was of typical 1950's stucco construction, with a hip-style roof, and four bedrooms, one of which was converted from a large 20' x 14' enclosed patio.

LAFD crews swiftly took to the roof to perform strategic vertical ventilation of heat and smoke, as their colleagues forced entry into the house to battle the well entrenched flames in the living room, enclosed patio-room, and kitchen. Four residents were inside when the blaze broke out.

Firefighters made an aggressive search and rescue operation of the 1,827 square-feet residence and successfully rescued the most critically injured from the front bedroom, and ensured all other occupants were out safely.

It took the well-coordinated effort of 45 Los Angeles Firefighters, under the command of Battalion Chief Daniel McCarty, just 21 minutes to extinguish the flames before they could spread to nearby residences.

A total of five adults were injured. Two were occupants and three were neighbors: A 50 year-old female suffered 2nd & 3rd degree burns to 25% of her body, and was rapidly treated and transported to a local hospital in critical condition. A 45 year-old male suffered a minor respiratory injury and was treated and transported to local hospital in fair to serious condition. Three neighbors suffered minor cuts to their hands after attempting to rescue the victims, and declined transport to the hospital.

All four residents of the house fire were displaced, only two were injured.

Smoke alarms were located in the residence, however their functional status was not readily determined, and no smoke alarms were found in or immediately outside the room where the critically injured were rescued. There were no obvious non-fire factors to impair the occupants egress from the dwelling, which was not equipped with residential fire sprinklers.

Monetary loss from the fire is still being tabulated. The cause of the blaze remains under active investigation by the LAFD Arson Section.

Dispatched Units: E289 E89 T89 RA889 E77 RA77 E7 EM14 BC14 E81 RA81 E39 E298 T98 AR2 AR12 AR17

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Submitted by Erik Scott, Spokesman
Los Angeles Fire Department

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