By Julie Zeeb
The Red Bluff Daily News
RED BLUFF, Calif — The Tehama County Coroner’s Office has released the name of the man killed Tuesday’s fire in the 16500 block of Rancho Tehama Road as 86-year-old Hilmar John Loehr.
Three people lived at the residence, but only two were home at the time of the incident, said Cal Fire Public Information Officer Kevin Colburn. A 14-year-old boy received minor injuries and was treated at the scene. The people inside were notified of the fire by a smoke detector, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Greg Gutierrez, the lead investigator on the fire. The 14-year-old boy, the grandson of the victim, got up to find the alarm activating and went in to see what was going on.
He saw the fire and went to his bedridden grandfather’s room and tried to push his bed, which has wheels, but the wheels were locked and he couldn’t get them unlocked, Gutierrez said.
The boy also tried getting a garden hose to battle the blaze, but was unable to get it to work, Gutierrez said.
The boy then tried to get his grandfather into a chair, but was unable to do so because of Loehr’s size in comparison to the boy’s, Gutierrez said.
The boy then went outside and called 9-1-1 before trying to get in one more time, but was unable to do so.
“I’m very impressed with the young man,” Gutierrez said. “He really tried hard and made a valiant attempt.”
The smoke alarm did save his life, Gutierrez said. “He’s lucky he made it out. This fire is a prime example of how fast fires move.”
The cause of the fire was still under investigation Wednesday, Colburn said.
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