Widow of TV Star Killed in Vista Fire

The widow of Ward Bond, star of the 1950s television series “Wagon Train,” died in a fire early Thursday in her Vista home, and her second husband suffered serious burns. She apparently had been smoking in bed, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

Mary Lou Bond, 73, was found lying on the floor next to her burning bed by her husband, John Diggs, 77. Diggs tried to carry Bond, who is an invalid, out of the room, said Robert Williams of the Sheriff’s Department. However, Bond’s clothing was on fire, so Diggs had to put his wife down, Vista Fire Marshal Paul Dawson said.

Diggs then called the Vista Fire Department to the home in the 2200 block of Alta Vista Drive.

Diggs, who was asleep in an adjoining room, was awakened by smoke and went to his wife’s bedroom shortly before 5 a.m. Williams said the bedroom and an exterior wall were engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived at the single-story home.

Diggs was taken by Life Flight helicopter to the UC San Diego Medical Center, where he was listed in serious condition Thursday night with second- and third-degree burns on his face, hands and arms, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Williams said a carton of cigarettes was found on the floor next to the bed--the area where investigators believe the fire started. He said Diggs told firefighters that Bond had been smoking in bed earlier that night.

Dawson said there were no smoke detectors in the home. An ordinance requiring all homes in the City of Vista to have smoke detectors went into effect last week, Dawson said.

Mary Lou Bond was Ward Bond’s secretary and business manager when they were married in 1954. She was with him in Dallas when he died of a heart attack Nov. 5, 1960, at age 57. A veteran motion picture actor, Bond attained stardom as Major Adams in the television series “Wagon Train,” which began in 1957.