SAN DIEGO – A disabled man was pulled to safety by his brother after he got trapped in a burning shed behind his family’s Otay Mesa home overnight Monday.
The fire started before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in the 3700 block of Clavelita Street. The family awoke to find the shed behind the home ablaze. The shed was a converted room where the victim, who cannot walk, resided.
Antonio Sham, the victim’s brother, heard him yelling for help. Sham ran into the shed and pulled his brother to safety. The rest of the family safely evacuated from the home.
“The room was engulfed in flames,” Sham said. “I saw my brother, and I ran in there and pulled him out, and ran him out of the fire, I didn't care about the flames or anything, it was instinct.”
Responding San Diego Fire-Rescue crews had the blaze knocked down within about 10 minutes. The victim was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. His condition was unknown.
The victim’s sister told 10News there were oxygen tanks inside the shed and she heard popping sounds coming from inside. The fire also damaged another shed next door.
The San Diego Metro Arson Strike Team is investigating the cause of the fire.
