Oceanside
A 78-year-old man was burned to death early Tuesday while in his Oceanside mobile home, the coroner’s office reported.
Jacob Vanderfleet and his wife had been suffering from the flu when he got up shortly after midnight to make some tea, his wife, Elizabeth, told police.
She went back to sleep, but was awakened by the smell of smoke. When she went to the kitchen, she saw her husband engulfed in flames. After trying to smother the fire with two blankets and then throwing water on him, she called firefighters.
By the time firefighters arrived, smoke was pouring out of the mobile home.
The coroner’s office speculated that Vanderfleet’s clothing caught fire from the stove while he was making the tea.
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