Woman Injured in Calif. Apartment Fire
Source The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.
Jan. 16--A Santa Rosa woman suffered serious burns when a fire broke out in the bedroom of her west Santa Rosa apartment early Monday, officials said.
Monica Shears, 44, was flown to a San Francisco burn unit with second- and third-degree burns to her torso, face and arms, Santa Rosa Battalion Chief Mark Basque said.
Shears had made at least four emergency calls to Santa Rosa police Sunday night into Monday morning, reporting hearing people in her Sebastopol Road apartment.
Officers responded each time and at 1 a.m. she agreed to go to a county mental health facility in Santa Rosa, Sgt. Lisa Banayat said.
At some point she left the facility and returned home. At 4:07 a.m., a report of a fire alarm sounding at the huge Village Square complex just east of South Wright Road brought firefighters to her apartment.
Two neighbors, awakened by the alarm, saw the burned woman trying to get out of her residence and called 911.
"The lady was crawling out of the front door of the apartment," said Nick Guevaro, who lives next door. "She was in pain. Her clothes looked like they were burned and there were ashes on her face."
Guevaro's roommate, Bryan Lopez, said that before the alarm, "there was some sort of explosion sound."
Fire investigators were trying to determine what caused the fire, which started in the bedroom. Basque said they found a gallon container of gasoline in the room.
The container wasn't full, and investigators were trying to determine if the fire was accidental or intentional.
The fire, kept in check by the second-floor apartment's sprinkler system, caused about $75,000 in damage to the structure and contents, Basque said.
Water also damaged a first-floor room used by property managers.
Shears was taken by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital and then was flown St. Francis Burn Center in San Francisco. Basque said she had serious burns over 28 percent of her body.
She was in critical but stable condition Monday evening.
Copyright 2012 - The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.
