By Scott Martindale
The Orange County Register
BUENA PARK, Calif. — A woman in her 80s with dementia whose house was gutted by a raging inferno Sunday afternoon was whisked from her bedroom by a passing motorist just moments before her home went up in flames, authorities said.
The unidentified motorist, whom neighbors described as a man in his 40s, pulled up in a black SUV and entered the northern Buena Park home through a side entrance, said Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Jose Valbuena. He emerged moments later with the home’s sole occupant, who was uninjured, Valbuena said.
“Thank goodness the gentleman decided to take action and pulled this lady out of her house,” Valbuena said. “We don’t believe she would have survived otherwise.”
By the time firefighters arrived, smoke was already billowing out of every room of the home, and the woman likely would have died, Valbuena said.
The blaze, on Ridglea Avenue in Buena Park, was reported at 4:07 p.m. Sunday, officials said.
Within two or three minutes of firefighters’ arrival, the house “flashed over” — in other words, the growing inferno suddenly roared through every room of the house, Valbuena said.
Firefighters were forced to retreat and fight the blaze from the outside only, Valbuena said.
Even after the fire was snuffed out, the home was so badly damaged that fire crews could not enter, Valbuena said.
A fire destroys a home on Ridglea Avenue Sunday afternoon in Buena Park.
Copyright 2012 Orange County Register
All Rights Reserved