Laguna Woods Kitchen Fire Injures 71-Year-Old Woman

A 71-year-old woman was burned in a kitchen fire in her packed-full Laguna Woods home today, an Orange County Fire Authority captain said.

Some oil in a pan on the stove caught fire and started the blaze in the 200 block of Avenida Majorca about 10:30 a.m., according to OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi.

A neighbor with a fire extinguisher ran over and tried to put out the fire, but “hoarding conditions” fed the blaze, Concialdi said. The woman tried to put out the flames with water from a sink, which caused the fire to spread.

The neighbor with the fire extinguisher “kept yelling at her to get out,” which she managed to do on her own, Concialdi said.

The fire was declared out at 10:42 a.m.

Firefighters said burning oil should be smothered. If the fire is in a pan, a lid should do the trick, Concialdi said.

The woman, who breathed some smoke, was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana with second-degree burns on the right side of her body. Concialdi said. Her name was withheld.

City officials yellow-tagged the unit, which cannot be occupied until it is cleaned up, Concialdi said. The blaze caused about $30,000 damage to the structure and $5,000 damage to its contents, he said.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.

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