83-Year-Old Goes Back Into Burning Home to Dial 911
An 83-year-old man suffered smoke inhalation after he ran back into a burning house to call 911.
The incident prompted officials to issue a public warning Thursday advising fire victims not to return to a burning structure, either to call for help or retrieve belongings.
About 4 a.m. Thursday, Richard Bussell was awakened by a smoke detector and ran out of his single-story home in the 11300 block of Wembley Road.
“He then went back inside to call 911,” Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Dennis Shell said. “That’s not the thing to do.”
Bussell was taken to Los Alamitos Medical Center and treated for smoke inhalation.
Investigators said the fire was sparked by an electrical blanket’s cord that Bussell had placed between the mattress and the box spring of his bed. The blaze scorched part of his bedroom and a hallway, causing estimated damage of $52,000. It took 25 firefighters about 10 minutes to control the fire.
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