Lakewood Deputies Help Rescue Elderly Man from House Fire in Bellflower

Two Lakewood Sheriff's Station deputies helped rescue an 85-year-old man from a house spewing of smoke and fire in Bellflower Saturday.

According to sheriff's deputies, the fire in the 9500 block of Rose Street was reported shortly after noon Saturday, Aug. 11, and arriving deputies heard someone inside the house calling for help.

A deputy tried to get in though security bars, breaking a window, but he was too big to fit. While another deputy tried to get through a kitchen door, a neighbor was able to slip through the security bars and open the door. Deputies then pulled the man from the smoke-filled house.

"The deputies and brave neighbor quickly worked together to save the man's life," said Captain Mike Parker, Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau. "We are certainly proud of our deputies, but the victim was also very fortunate to have a neighbor brave enough to climb through iron bars into a burning house to save him." 

The 85-year-old vicrtim was checked out at a hospital for smoke inhalation and released. The two deputies were taken to a hospital and held overnight for observation while the neighbor who assisted in the rescue was examined at the scene and declined further treatment.

Damage to the house and its contents was estimated at $30,000. The cause of the fire was deemed accidental, according to firefighters at the scene.

The Lakewood Sheriff's Station provides service to the communities of Bellflower, Lakewood, Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and Paramount.

- MarieSam Sanchez and City News Service contributed to this report.