Man saves neighbor from house fire

Ellen McCarty

FOUNTAIN VALLEY -- David Silva’s decision to work at home Friday morning

enabled him to save a neighbor’s life when a kitchen fire broke out in

the 9200 block of Anson River Circle.

The blaze jumped from the kitchen into the attic, drawing the efforts of

44 fire fighters from Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach and Garden Grove

before it was quelled, said Joe Cucinotti, a public information officer

for the Fountain Valley Fire Department.

But before fire engines roared onto the scene, Silva faced the burning

home alone.

“I was in my office on a business call when I smelled smoke,” Silva said.

“I thought someone’s trash cans were on fire, but when I saw smoke coming

from the second story of my neighbor’s house, I was shocked.”

He called 911 then ran next door and banged on the door “100 times

frantically,” he said. “The fire trucks arrived within minutes, but it

felt like forever.”

The 47-year-old resident, who moved to Fountain Valley a year ago, said

he had never met his neighbors, but felt he had to get inside the house.

“Then the weirdest thing happened,” he said. “The door just opened and

there was this lady standing in the living room.”

He yelled to her that there was a fire and that she had to get outside,

but she didn’t move, he said.

“I thought maybe she was disabled because she didn’t respond at all,” he

said. Silva makes a living helping disabled people find affordable

housing, so he knew how to handle the situation, he said. After calling

to her several times, he ran into the house, put his arms around her and

carried her outside.

“I kept asking her if there was anyone else inside, but she wouldn’t talk

to me,” he said.

As it turned out, 41-year-old Dieu Ma is blind and speaks only Chinese.

If Silva hadn’t been on scene to help her, she may have passed out and

been killed by smoke inhalation or the fire itself, Cucinotti said.

Silva said he didn’t worry about his own house until the fire fighters

broke a hole in Ma’s roof, revealing the violent flames.

“It’s unusual for a fire to jump from the kitchen into the eaves of the

attic,” Cucinotti said. “That threw our guys off a little bit but once

they got inside and knocked out the kitchen fire, they realized something

was still burning.”

As Ma was treated for smoke inhalation at a local hospital, Silva waited

outside to greet her relatives when they came home from work and saw

their burned, empty home.

“They were shocked and glad to know their daughter was OK,” he said.

“We’re close neighbors now.”

The cause of the fire appears to be accidental, Cucinotti said, but the

investigation continues.