Sheriff’s officers help save 2 from burning home near Compton

Five L.A. County sheriff’s deputies and a sergeant helped rescue a woman and her disabled son from a house fire early Sunday morning.

The rescuers were on patrol about 3 a.m., when they saw a house fully engulfed in flames in an unincorporated area near Compton. The identities of the five men and one woman were withheld for safety reasons related to their assignments, said Steve Whitmore, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department.

A man in front of the house, in the 14900 block of South Gibson Avenue, said his wife was inside, but the flames and heat were so intense he could not reenter to rescue her. Other than a side door, all the doors and windows on the house had safety bars.

After alerting firefighters, the deputies used a garden hose to saturate the door and the hallway, so fire crews could enter. They also used a pick to remove the bars on the bedroom window and smashed the glass. Firefighters who arrived on the scene carried the unconscious woman through the window to safety. They then learned that the disabled 14-year-old was inside. Firefighters reentered the building and rescued the teen, who was also unconscious.

The mother and son were hospitalized in critical but stable condition. The teen suffered burns over 20% of his body. The deputy who broke the window required stitches on his hands and arms and was treated and released.

seema.mehta@latimes.com