STOCKTON — Good Samaritans and firefighters rescued two people Wednesday afternoon after a fire broke out at a home in the 1800 block of West Acacia Street.
About 1:40 p.m., 51-year-old Jimmy Dirence was sitting outside under a tree near San Juan Avenue and Acacia Street when he noticed smoke.
He said he began to wonder where the smoke was coming from when he saw a plume rise from a home nearby. Dirence said he and a couple of other men ran to the front door and saw smoke beginning to fill the house.
"When we went in, the smoke came all at once at us," he said. "The black smoke just came all at once."
Dirence and the other men found an elderly man sitting in the living room and dragged him to the front door, where the men were then able to pick him up and carry him to a lawn next door. He said he saw flames coming from the kitchen.
The men were unable to get to a woman who was in a bathroom in the back of the house, Dirence said. The men tried to find a way to get her out but she was stuck inside because of the fire, he added.
Stockton Fire Chief Erik Newman said firefighters arrived to find heavy smoke coming out of the back of the house. After learning that someone was possibly trapped in the back, they went into rescue mode and searched for the person.
Firefighters were able to find the woman, who was alert when she was walked out the front door. The woman was being treated for possible smoke inhalation.
The home sustained significant damage and the residents won't be able to go back in anytime soon, Newman said.
Newman said arson investigators responded to the scene to determine where the fire started. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Contact reporter Almendra Carpizo at (209) 546-8264 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AlmendraCarpizo.
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