Woman, 87, Critically Burned

An 87-year-old woman was critically burned early Monday in a cottage fire at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills. The hospital did not call the Los Angeles Fire Department about the blaze, instead relying on an automated alarm system to alert authorities, a department spokesman said.

Firefighters and paramedics arrived at the facility less than 10 minutes after the fire started at 2:17 a.m., but they were unaware of the extent of the blaze or that someone had been injured, Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said.

Josephine Codd, who worked for more than two decades as a nurse at 20th Century Fox, suffered second- and third-degree burns over 60% of her body after the fire broke out in her cottage at the health care and retirement home complex for people in the movie and TV industries, Humphrey said.

The fire crew discovered Codd badly burned but conscious, lying on the ground outside her unit. An ambulance was summoned and arrived about 2:40 a.m., he said.

Codd was listed in critical condition at the Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, according to a burn center spokesman.

Firefighters, who extinguished the blaze in about 30 minutes, were still investigating the incident Monday, focusing on a small natural gas heater in the building as the fire’s cause, Humphrey said.

In addition to severe burns, Codd had a cut on her left arm and will undergo further testing for injuries, said hospital spokesman Larry Weinberg.

“For a woman her age to sustain an injury of this significance is very, very grave,” he said.

Codd was the only resident injured in the building, which has four units, said Carol Pfannkuche, a spokeswoman for the Motion Picture and Television Hospital. The building suffered about $250,000 in damage, according to fire officials.

Humphrey said the quality of hospital care, not speed of attention, most often determines a burn patient’s survival, but he did not downplay the importance of the delay.

“Had we known earlier [about the victim], that would have been ideal,” he said. “We could have helped her alleviate her pain to make her more comfortable and give her more will to survive.”

Pfannkuche declined to comment on the hospital’s response except to say the facility has an “excellent safety record.”

“This is an isolated incident,” she said.

John Gordon, a spokesman for the state Department of Social Services, said Monday that the Motion Picture and Television Hospital was last inspected Aug. 3, 2000. At that time, the facility received eight citations and was fined $300. Violations included a lack of signs stating “No Smoking. Oxygen Tanks in Use,” and failure to inform the Fire Department in writing about the oxygen tank usage, he said.

Facility residents were shaken by Codd’s injuries.

“She’s the sweetest person,” said 77-year-old Joe Paz, a former singer and dancer who occasionally shopped with Codd at the mall across the street from the hospital.