Staff Report
The Marin Independent Journal
NOVATO, Calif. — An 82-year-old woman suffered severe upper body burns when the gas stove on which she was cooking caught the sleeve of her robe on fire, firefighters said.
The woman, whose name was not available, was taken Sunday morning to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael after her husband who also suffered minor burns to his hands while trying to extinguish the fire called 911, officials said.
The woman suffered second- and third-degree burns on about 30 percent of her body, firefighters said.
Novato Fire District paramedics responded to the incident at 62 Dolphin Isle in the Bel Marin Keys area at 10:36 a.m.
“Her sleeve caught on fire and produced enough smoke to activate the smoke alarm,” said Capt. Dmitri Menzel of the Novato Fire District. “The husband, who was in the house at the time, heard the smoke alarm going off, and a commotion in the kitchen; he then found his wife engulfed in flames in her upper body.
“He quickly escorted his wife to the tub and extinguished the flames with water.” The woman initially tried to extinguish the flames herself with water from the kitchen sink, but was unable to do so, firefighters said.
Firefighters said the incident serves as a reminder that cooking fires are the most common types of fires in Novato.
“The kitchen can be one of the most hazardous rooms in the home if you don’t practice safe cooking behaviors,” said Novato Fire Marshal Bill Tyler.
“This is even more apparent during the holidays.”
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