Santa Rosa, CA - A 2-year-old Santa Rosa boy awake before the rest of his household inadvertently set fire to the family living room, launching a chain of events that sent four people to the hospital Saturday morning, fire officials said.
The boy got up sometime before 8:15 a.m. and padded downstairs, where he found a lighter and apparently was playing with it when he caught some plastic toys on fire, Santa Rosa Fire Battalion Chief Andy Pforsich said.
A 12-year-old family friend staying for the weekend at the Becky Court condo off Coffey Lane was sleeping on a nearby couch and was awakened by the toddler’s screams and the smell of smoke, fire officials said.
He later told investigators the fire was burning up the side of a wall, Fire Inspector Marita Petersen said.
A smoke detector also alerted the tot’s parents upstairs, “which was huge, because they wouldn’t probably have woken up as quickly as they did,” Petersen said.
“It could have been just so much worse,” she said. “I feel really fortunate for those folks. Those folks are very fortunate.”
Once everyone else was out of the house, the toddler’s mother, Rebecca Kay, got out a fire extinguisher, badly cutting her hand as she broke the glass front to its cabinet, fire officials said.
But Kay was able to douse the flames before firefighters could get to the fire and extinguish it, Petersen and Pforsich said.
Though the fire was minimal, it filled the two-story condo with smoke, Pforsich said.
Both the 12-year-old and the toddler’s father, Cam Turner, suffered smoke inhalation, officials said.
They were treated at the scene, then transported to the hospital, where they and the mother received additional treatment for their injuries, Pforsich said.
The 2-year-old also was assessed for smoke inhalation, Petersen said.
The overall damage to the condo was minimal, mostly due to smoke, and was estimated at about $5,000, Pforsich said.
The children’s name were not released. |
