Tustin : Passer-by Saves Woman From Burning House
A passer-by broke a bedroom window in a burning house Thursday and rescued a 21-year-old woman from the flames.
The fire had engulfed the house by the time county fire crews arrived at 14071 Lambeth Way, and it took 20 firefighters 41 minutes to put it out.
They later declared the house a total loss--estimating damage to the structure and its contents at $185,000. Firefighters identified the owners as Douglas and Dorothy Hansen.
County Fire Capt. Craig Casey said an electrical short in the attic started the fire long before the flames became apparent. He said the residents had been in the house cooking lunch and had smelled something odd but had attributed it to cooking odors.
The flames erupted through the wood-shingle roof about 1 hour and 45 minutes later, he said.
By then, the only person in the house was the woman, who Casey said lives in Los Angeles but rents a room in the house and stays there while attending school. She was not injured.
Casey said the woman opened her bedroom door, encountered smoke and saw the flames “coming down the hall toward her.” She closed the door and, finding the window jammed shut, waited to be rescued, Casey said.
By the time firefighters extinguished the flames, the house was rubble. “It was just a real intense fire--very hot,” Casey said.
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