Hayward Man Saved From Fire By Grandnephew, Neighbor
HAYWARD (CBS SF) -- A Hayward man is recovering Monday night after he was rescued from a fire in his bedroom with the help of his 9-year-old grandnephew, a fire spokesman said.
The wheelchair-bound 57-year-old was in his room in the two-bedroom apartment in a senior community in the 27000 block of Tyrrell Avenue when the fire broke out, Capt. Thor Poulson said.
He was eating and smoking with the door closed around 4:30 p.m. when his wife heard the smoke detector go off.
She opened the bedroom door and found a fire scorching the walls and the room filled with smoke. She tried to help the man out of the room but couldn't.
The couple's visiting 9-year-old grandnephew then ran to a nearby store and came back with the business owner, who tackled the bedroom blaze with a fire extinguisher, Poulson said.
The business owner helped the man out of the bedroom, but only could get him as far as the living room before Hayward firefighters arrived.
Poulson said that because the business owner had partially knocked down the fire, firefighters controlled it quickly and kept it contained to the bedroom.
However, it was necessary to cut ventilation holes in the room's roof and the bedroom and its contents were a total loss.
The man was taken to St. Rose Hospital to be treated for minor injuries to his hands. Poulson said that it appeared he had tried to put the fire out himself before he was rescued.
He said it was unclear why the man hadn't called for help but that he had recently suffered a stroke and was still recovering.
The 9-year-old grandnephew "acted heroically," Poulson said, and because of that firefighters gave him stickers and offered him a ride on a fire truck sometime in the near future.
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