A 54-year-old man suffered major burns yesterday in Victorville while trying to extinguish a two-alarm blaze that ripped through two mobile homes and three vehicles, San Bernardino County Fire Department officials say.
The flames were reported at 4:57 a.m. Sunday at Totem Pole Mobile Home Park, 12751 Mariposa Road.
An 11-year-old boy told investigators he was awakened inside a mobile home by the smell of smoke and saw that the porch was burning, so he awakened two other occupants, fire officials said in a written statement.
“All three escaped without injury,” according to the statement. “However, while trying to contain the fire before firefighters arrived, … a relative of the homeowner sustained major burns and was airlifted to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton.”
The fire appears to have started on the porch, fire officials said, though the cause remains under investigation.
When crews arrived, several citizens were fighting the flames. The single-wide mobile home where the fire started was fully engulfed, and flames were spreading toward coaches on both sides. Crews saved one of the nearby homes and kept the other from being totally burned, officials said.
“Residents stated the smoke detectors … were operational but did not know if they activated because they had already evacuated the home prior to the fire reaching the interior,” according to the statement.
