Neighbor Hailed for Saving 2 From Fire

An Oxnard resident who helped his neighbors escape from a house fire early Wednesday earned praise from the Oxnard Fire Department.

About 12:20 a.m., James Donnel Pearson, 31, noticed flames rising from his neighbor’s garage door, which had malfunctioned and was partly open, fire officials said.

Authorities said Pearson raced into the smoke-filled home on the 1200 block of Joliet Place with a flashlight. He found his way to the back bedroom, where he assisted two adult sisters and two dogs out of the bedroom window, authorities said.

Pearson then joined other neighbors with garden hoses and attacked the flames until firefighters arrived, officials said.

No one was injured in the fire, which was put out by 12:44 p.m. Firefighters said it was lucky the residents in the home were awake because the smoke detectors in the home had dead batteries.

“Had the tenants not been awake when the fire started, this could have been a much worse scenario,” Oxnard Fire Inspector Dan Gildea wrote in his report.

Firefighters estimate the damage to the home and contents at $75,000.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated, but it was not arson, said Gildea.

The Oxnard Fire Department plans to commend Pearson for his actions.