SAN FRANCISCO — A firefighter left legally blind from a fire says her caretaker has run off with her life savings.
NBC Bay Area reported that former firefighter Melanie Stapper accused Kimberly Van Vorst of stealing $130,000. She did not know it was missing until Van Vorst disappeared.
“Somebody actually went and looked it up and found out there are massive charges on my credit card,” Stapper said. “And checks written that I had nothing to do with.”
Stapper and two other firefighters — Louis Mambretti and Keith Onishi — on March 9, 1995 were trapped inside a burning garage.
“I was really strong so I thought I’ll try and get the garage open,” Stapper said. “I couldn’t and then my tank ran out, and I just breathed in fire and suffocated.”
Mambretti died in the blaze, while Onishi and Stapper survived.
Stapper’s injuries from the fire caused her to be legally blind and in need of a full-time caregiver, according to the report.
“She takes like 30 medications a day,” Onishi said of Stapper. “She has seizures, she can’t see. The night that we both got injured was the first night that I met her. But I wasn’t going to abandon her – she has nobody.”
The women’s firefighters association has donated $1,000 to Stapper in helping her deal with her financial loss, according to the report. Stapper has also set up an online petition calling for legal action against Van Vorst.
The settlement hearing is scheduled to continue on Oct. 9.