Calif. Firefighters Rescue Man From Burning Home

PITTSBURG, Calif. -- A Pittsburg man in his 40s was in critical condition Thursday night after being rescued from a burning residence, and authorities said it was a miracle he survived at all.

Contra Costa Fire Protection District crews were called to the 2200 block of Fairbourne Drive around 6:15 p.m. and found flames shooting out both sides of the three-bedroom, single-story home, Fire Marshal Lewis Broschard said. During a search of the home, they found the man unconscious in the kitchen, Broschard said.

Paramedics immediately began giving the man CPR, while firemen fought the one-alarm blaze, Broschard said. Paramedics worked on the man for seven to eight minutes at the scene, Broschard said, but he didn't have a pulse when he was loaded into the ambulance.

But early in the drive to Mount Diablo Medical Center in Concord, paramedics were able to get a pulse back, Broschard said.

The man is in critical condition with burns on the right side of his face, head, arms and legs, Broschard said. He also suffered from smoke inhalation.

"It was for at least 15 minutes after the initial 911 call," that paramedics restarted the man's heart, Broschard said. "Crews were able to give him oxygen and get (intravenous) units in him at the scene."

Firefighters put out the blaze in about 30 minutes, Broschard said, and the house sustained significant damage. Investigators still were trying to put a dollar value on it, as well as find out what

caused the fire, he said.

Copyright 2012 - Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service