Garage Fire Grows, Destroying Oceanside Home

OCEANSIDE, CA — A fire destroyed a home after it started in the garage from an unattended cigarette and spread into the residence, with one firefighter receiving a knee injury while carrying a bedridden man from the home, the Oceanside Fire Department said Monday.

A resident of the home at 4455 La Quinta Place called the fire department at 3:37 p.m. Sunday to report the fire, which fully engulfed the residence with a bedridden man still inside, the OPD said in a statement.

Arriving firefighters found heavy smoke blowing out of an open garage door, the statement said. They also found the previously bedridden man in the backyard after neighbors took him out of the home.

Before a ladder truck could cut a ventilation hole in the attic, three large explosions from superheated oxygen tanks were felt from inside the home, the OPD statement said.

Fire crews outside the home directed hose streams into the home and prevented the fire from damaging nearby homes.

The previously trapped occupant was taken to a hospital for further evaluation, the OPD said.

At 4:52 p.m., the fire was extinguished and declared contained.

A OFD fire investigator's initial findings indicated the fire started in the garage from an unattended cigarette.

City News Service