GARDEN GROVE : Fire Ravages Home, Injuring 3 People

Three people were injured, one seriously, in a house fire of unknown origin early Sunday.

Steven Mack, 37, was in critical condition at UCI Medical Center in Orange on Sunday, with second- and third-degree burns covering 70% of his body, his hands and feet seriously injured, according to Garden Grove Battalion Chief Ted Just.

Firefighter John Herrera pulled Mack from the burning structure, officials said.

Mack and his former in-laws, Hazel and Melvin Schultz, were awakened at about 2 a.m. by the fire, which started in the kitchen of their home in the 13000 block of Nina Place. The kitchen was ravaged, and there was heat and smoke damage throughout the one-story house, Just said. Fire investigators have not yet determined the cause of the blaze.

It took about 15 minutes for 15 firefighters in three engines to extinguish the flames, said officials, who estimated there was $40,000 damage to the house’s structure and $20,000 in contents lost.

Melvin Schultz, 57, was released Sunday morning from Garden Grove Hospital, where 55-year-old Hazel Schultz was being treated for smoke inhalation and back injuries she received jumping out a window to escape the fire.