Boy Saves Housemates From Fire
A 14-year-old mentally disabled boy averted potential disaster early Friday when he alerted residents of a Lakeside care facility to a fire in a back bedroom, officials said.
Ecil Walters, a resident at the Buena Valley Group Home, heard the smoke alarms go off at 5 a.m., and helped counselors rush five other boys out of the house at 11972 Lakeside Ave.
No one was injured in the two-alarm blaze, which took three fire companies 30 minutes to contain, according to the Lakeside Fire Department. But a family dog that ran back into the burning home died in the blaze.
The fire started in a back bedroom of the one-story home, which houses six retarded and emotionally disturbed boys, fire officials said.
A counselor doing laundry in the garage saw flames licking the back of the home and raced to alert residents, said Carol DuPont, who works at the home.
Inside, Walters ran door to door, alerted the other boys--ages 9 to 15--to the fire, and helped rush people out, DuPont said.
The house, run by Development Services Continuum, a nonprofit group, was quickly engulfed by flames and gutted, firefighters said.
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