MOORPARK : Man Nursing Bad Back Saves Victim of Fire

A Moorpark man who took half a day off from work Wednesday to recuperate from minor back surgery ended up rescuing a baby-sitter from a burning condominium as neighbors used garden hoses to keep the flames from spreading.

The fire destroyed the home’s garage and caused smoke damage to an attached unit, Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells said.

Damage is estimated at $45,000.

The blaze broke out at 4:12 p.m. at 14785 Marquette St. in Moorpark and quickly spread through the garage before it started to penetrate into the attic shared by the two condominiums, Wells said.

Thomas Ferguson, who lives across the street, had received cortisone injections for two ruptured back disks earlier in the morning. He was lying on the couch with ice packs on his back when his daughter Marisa, 9, ran into the house yelling that their neighbor’s home was on fire, he said.

“I grabbed a shovel so that I could break out the windows in the house,” said Ferguson, 42.

“I had ice packs stuck down my pants, so when I was running, they were slipping down my legs.”

When Ferguson arrived at the condominium, he discovered baby-sitter Michael Pearson, 27, in the house looking for residents Tommy Hunter, 11, and his 9-year-old brother Brian, both of whom had already escaped unharmed.

“He was confused by the smoke, so he thought the kids were still in the house,” Ferguson said.

“It was a real struggle to get him out of the house, but I finally did.”

Ferguson said that while he was trying to convince Pearson to leave the burning structure, other neighbors were using their garden hoses to try and keep the flames from spreading to the attached condominium.

“We’re a close neighborhood,” Ferguson said. “We have a lot of social functions together, and so it was natural to help out.”

The blaze was brought under control by 4:41 p.m., and the cause is being investigated, Wells said.

She said a smoke detector alerted the baby-sitter and children to the blaze.

Shortly after the fire was extinguished, Ferguson said he went home to look for aspirin.

“My back hurts and I have a real pounding headache. And I have to go find my ice bags, wherever they’re at.”