Woman Dies After Bathrobe Catches Fire
A 71-year-old Santa Ana woman died Friday morning after her bathrobe caught fire as she set a tea kettle on her gas range, authorities said.
Two neighbors tried to rescue Louise Schooler after reporting the fire at 9:08 a.m. but were driven back by thick smoke inside her house in the 1300 block of West 12th Street, city fire officials said.
Firefighters found the victim’s badly burned body on the kitchen floor in front of the stove.
“The burner under the tea kettle was still on when the firemen found her,” Santa Ana police spokeswoman Maureen Thomas said Friday.
“Maybe she reached across the stove to the teapot,” Battalion Commander Gale Waites theorized. “I’m guessing. But I’ve seen it before.”
Thomas said the victim, who lived alone, had suffered a stroke two months earlier. An autopsy was scheduled today to determine the cause of death.
The fire caused only “minor smoke and heat” damage to the house, Waites said.
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