Woman Dies In Early Morning 2-Alarm San Jose Mobile Home Fire
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- A wheelchair-bound woman was trapped and killed early Friday as a 2-alarm fire swept through her double-wide mobile home in San Jose, neighbors and authorities said.
San Jose Fire Captain Cesar Martinez said crews responded to a 911 call after midnight reporting a fire in a mobile home at 218 El Bosque Drive.
"We responded to the fire, a second alarm was called in after reports of a trapped person," he said. "We have a fatality."
Neighbors told KPIX 5 that the victim was an elderly woman in a wheelchair who had lived in the neighborhood for several years.
"I was woken up -- they were banging on our windows saying -- 'Fire! Fire!'," said neighbor Paul Ruiz. "It just too seconds, minutes for it to catch on. Instantly, everything caught fire."
Another neighbor - Gloria -- said her son was heading off to work just before midnight when he saw the mobile home next door on fire.
"He saw flames coming out of her house," she told KPIX 5. "He ran baack into the house, pounded on the doors and told us all to get out."
Firefighters gained control of the blaze, but not before flames had completely destroyed the home. There were no other injuries and an arson investigator was on the scene trying to determine a cause of the fire.
The woman's identity has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
