LA child trapped in fire, lessons learned

I am John Flores, a Fallbrook resident and a Los Angeles fireman who would like to report on an incident in which members of my fire station responded to a scene where a small boy became trapped in a fire and died. There are some lessons learned which are significant enough to pass on to Fallbrook residents. These are simple but valuable lessons that could save a life.

Los Angeles firefighters responded to a 3 a.m. fire in a single-family dwelling. The first units on the scene reported that a house was fully involved in the fire. They saw that the front door was open and that a sofa was jammed in the doorway. Firefighters were forced to fight the fire from the outside due to the large volume of fire. After the knockdown of the fire, a search was made and a six-year-old boy was found in the kitchen next to an exit door. He was unable to open the door because it had a double-key deadbolt without the key in it. The cause of this fire was a small electric space heater that shorted out and ignited the sofa. There are lessons in this fire we can learn from.

First, alert everyone in the family — get everyone out of the house! The father tried to pull the sofa out of the front door instead of getting his family out. The open door then allowed outside air to fan the flames, increasing the intensity of the fire. He then had to run all the way around the house to get back in to try and save his family through a now fiercely burning fire.

Second, call the fire department immediately upon discovering a fire. The neighbors called this fire in, but by then it was too late.

Third, check your exit doors for double-key deadbolts. Make sure that you have the key in them when you are home and that your children can open them.

Fourth, have a fire escape plan for your family. This little guy would not have died if he had just exited his bedroom window!

Our Fallbrook firefighters have information to assist you in making a fire escape plan for your home.