Crews battle Palm Desert house fire
A fire broke out at a Palm Desert home on Sunday morning.
Neighbors say they could hear a man yelling and rushed to the scene to help. Eyewitnesses tell News Channel 3 flames were billowing from the home, as seen in the video supplied by neighbor Carol Witteman, and an elderly man with a history of medical conditions was trapped inside.
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“The flames really started shooting…it was mainly that guy across the street that saved this man’s life,” said Dan Witteman.
He says two neighbors rushed in to rescue the man.
“There was smoke billowing over the heads of the guys who had to pull him out and in fact the neighbor had to take off his shorts and use his shorts to work the door knob because it was burning hot,” said next-door neighbor John Gilhuly.
We’re told the elderly man was conscious and taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
“Finally we got him to the hospital and we’re going to follow up with him there,” said Lisa Larson, from the American Red Cross in Palm Desert.
CAL fire was on scene extinguishing the flames — also rescuing one of the man’s dogs. The house, however, was totally devastated. We’re told the man had thousands of dollars worth of collectible sports items completely destroyed in the flames. “Everything you could think of..baseball cards he collects a lot…jerseys everything…just to look at the house destroyed it’s like wow…” said Roxanne Navarrete, an in-home caregiver.
The Red Cross says they’ll be following up to help him get back on his feet. “We just come as Red Cross to make sure that the healing process can begin because it’s such a stressful situation when your house burns down,” said Larson.
Still no word on the initial cause of the fire, although neighbors tell us they believe the flames started in the kitchen.
INITIAL REPORT:
At 8:30 a.m. Cal Fire reported that crews have contained the residential structure fire at a home in Palm Desert and no injuries were reported.
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The fire was reported at 8:05 a.m. in the 77500 block of Edinburough Street.
Neighbors say at least one person was rescued from the home, and there may be another person inside.
Stay with News Channel 3 for updates on this fire.
