Passerby Aids Family’s Leap From Flames

NORTH HOLLYWOOD —  Three people, including a 6-year-old boy, jumped to safety from the window of a blazing second-story apartment early Sunday, aided by a passing security guard who pushed a trash dumpster under the window to break their fall.

The actions of the guard, who apparently was on his way home from a graveyard shift, probably saved the man, woman and child from more severe injuries from the blaze, which started in a Christmas tree, said Alan Masumoto, a spokesman for the Los Angles Fire Department.

“Certainly if he had not been passing by, it could have been more tragic,” Masumoto said. “It was pretty heads-up on his part.”

But the guard, who does not work at the building where the fire broke out, didn’t wait for a pat on the back. As soon as firefighters arrived on the scene, he was gone.

“I wish he would have stuck around to take credit for what he did,” said David Cox, manager of the 23-unit apartment building at 5040 Tujunga Ave. “Because he’s definitely a hero.”

Fire officials did not release the names of the victims, described only as a couple in their 40s and their son.

The man, who tried to put out the fire, suffered third-degree burns over 60% of his body, including his face, back and extremities, said Dr. Raul Lopez at North Hollywood Medical Center, where paramedics first brought the victim.

He was in critical condition and breathing with the aid of a ventilator after being transferred to the burn unit at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Lopez said.

The woman was treated for smoke inhalation at Providence-St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank and released. Fire officials said the boy was also treated for smoke inhalation.

After combing the gutted apartment for several hours, investigators determined that the blaze originated in the Christmas tree, said Brian Humphrey, another fire department spokesman. They were continuing to search for the source of the fire, which caused an estimated $40,000 in damage, he said.

Humphrey said the child woke up the adults shortly after 9 a.m., telling them that the top of the tree was on fire.

The unidentified security guard apparently saw flames coming from the apartment, jumped a fence to investigate and found two adults standing naked in the window with flames and smoke streaming out from behind them.

He then pushed the industrial-size trash dumpster under the window and yelled at them to jump.

“It sounded like a bomb going off when the guy landed, because the dumpster was empty,” said Cox, the building manager, who was awakened by the guard’s shouts of “Fire!” and went outside to help. “But if that dumpster wasn’t there, they really would have torn themselves up.”

Humphrey, the Fire Department spokesman, said an average of 33 people are killed annually in the United States as a result of Christmas tree fires, including three per year in Los Angeles.

Safety tips that authorities recommend include watering live trees daily, turning off tree lights while sleeping or not at home, using small lights that produce less heat, making sure that smoke detectors are in working order and never placing Christmas trees where they can block an exit.