Fire at Heavily Barred Home Leaves 2 Dead

Two elderly brothers were killed, but two other relatives escaped when a fire swept through a heavily barred Baldwin Hills house early Thursday.

Richard Fisher, 61, died as he apparently tried to get through an anti-burglary screen on his front door. Fisher, who had one leg amputated, would have had to open the door with a key, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said.

His brother, James Fisher, 67, was found by firemen in the bathtub, where he had apparently sought refuge. He was taken to Brotman Memorial Hospital in Culver City but died 20 minutes later.

Fisher’s daughter, LaVerne McLeod, and her husband, Jeffrey McLeod, escaped unhurt through a bedroom window. Jeffrey McLeod, a security guard, said he and his wife were awakened by the fire but were prevented by smoke and heat from getting through their bedroom door to help the two older men. He said they escaped through the window by opening a quick-release device on its anti-burglary bars.

The fire broke out shortly before 9 a.m. in the house in the 5500 block of Blackwelder Street. The cause is still under investigation, Wells said.