By Richard Brooks
The Press Enterprise
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — Exploding oxygen tanks helped spread a house fire that hospitalized a woman, destroyed her home, damaged two neighboring houses, killed several pets and forced the evacuation of the entire residential block Thursday in the San Bernardino Mountains, fire officials said.
The flames erupted on a couch in the house that was destroyed by the 12:30 a.m. blaze in the 22800 block of Juniper Lane in Valley of Enchantment, according to reports.
Within minutes, the entire house was ablaze, neighbors told 911 dispatchers. The building’s only occupant escaped, but was treated at a neighbor’s home for smoke inhalation and then taken to a hospital. Her name was not released.
“She had a lot of (medical) oxygen tanks, and they exploded and sent shrapnel everywhere,” said Fire Chief Michael Sherman, of Crest Forest Fire Protection District. “The first 20 minutes of the fire, we had several large explosions.”
The oxygen and hot metal shards from the exploding tanks helped spread the fire to the two neighboring homes. But the rain-soaked vegetation did not ignite.
“If that had happened 10 days earlier during the heat, or this next weekend when we’re supposed to have some Santa Ana winds, you would have had it spread beyond the three houses ... because of the flying embers,” Sherman said. “But it has been raining for 2 1/2 days, and it was really moist.”
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