SANTA ANA : Man Saves Niece and Nephew From Fire

A 23-year-old man rescued his infant niece from a fire that erupted Wednesday in the girl’s bedroom and then injured himself trying to put out the blaze, fire officials said.

“If it weren’t for him, she would have died,” said Santa Ana Fire Department Capt. Robert Soria. “He acted quickly and did a really good job.”

Elliot Dunning was getting ready to go to work at about 9:15 a.m Wednesday when he heard a crackling noise in his niece’s bedroom, Soria said. The house is in the 1700 block of Raymar Street.

When Dunning opened the bedroom door, he saw that a portable floor heater had melted through an electrical cord and had ignited a mattress next to the girl’s crib.

The uncle grabbed the infant and alerted his 5-year-old nephew to get out of the house, Soria said.

“He went back into house to try to smother the fire with a blanket but only helped to spread flames before smoke overcame him,” Soria said.

After Dunning ran back outside, he tore open the security bars that covered the bedroom window and punched a hole in the glass with his fist. He tried to control the fire with a garden hose until the fire units arrived, Soria said.

Firefighters extinguished the flames within 10 minutes.

Dunning’s 5-year-old nephew wept as he watched fire crews work to put out the blaze. “All my toys are in there,” he cried.

Dunning received minor cuts on his hand and suffered from smoke inhalation, Soria said.

The blaze was contained to the bedroom, which was destroyed. Fire officials estimated the damage at $20,000 to the structure and $5,000 in damage to the furniture.