Crime & Safety

Neighbors Rush to Rescue Woman from Burning Home

Fire officials credit four alert neighbors for saving the woman's life Monday morning.

Quick-acting neighbors worked together Monday to rescue a Carlsbad woman in her mid-80s, who got cornered by smoke and flames in her burning townhome.

The blaze in the 6500 block of Corte la Paz erupted for unknown reasons about 6:45 a.m., according to fire department officials.

A woman, two men and a 13-year-old boy who live nearby heard the victim yelling for help from a second-floor window and hurried over to assist her, Battalion Chief Mike Davis said.

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They used a ladder to get onto the roof of the triplex, then pulled the trapped woman out the window to safety. Medics took her to UCSD Medical Center in San Diego for treatment of burns and smoke inhalation, Davis said.

It took firefighters about 10 minutes to subdue the flames, which caused an estimated $125,000 in structural damage, destroyed roughly $80,000 worth of contents and killed one of the resident’s pet cats.

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An attached unit sustained minor smoke damage, the battalion chief said.

Firefighters presented the neighbors who rescued the victim with good-Samaritan pins.

“They really did save that woman’s life,” Davis said.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

-City News Service


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