Trapped Man Rescued from Burning House in Novato
Fire official says ‘hoarding conditions’ caused older man to get pinned on his back deck as he tried to douse flames.
By Brent Ainsworth | Email the author | 2:41pm
A man needed to be rescued Wednesday afternoon when a fire burned an exterior deck of his home in the hills above Novato’s Presidents neighborhood, a fire official said.
The older man was trying to extinguish the fire and became trapped on the deck because of a large amount of consumer items in and outside the house, said Novato Fire Deputy Chief Eric Nickel.
Fire crews arrived shortly after the call at 12:46 p.m. on Tilden Drive, just off the west end of Rowland Boulevard on the west side of Highway 101. Nickel said lots of smoke could be seen from the area and there were multiple calls to 911.
The fire was situated on a deck behind the home, and Nickel said hoarding conditions inside the home caused the man to become trapped while trying to douse the blaze. Fire personnel placed a 35-foot ladder against the back deck to get the man to safety.
“He was holding (the fire) in check, but he couldn’t get out the same way he got in,” Nickel said.
Eighteen firefighters from the Novato Fire District and Marin County Fire responded to the single-alarm incident, which being investigated and the cause is undetermined. No residents or firefighters were hurt, Nickel said.
The Novato Fire District is working with the city of Novato to address the health and safety conditions inside the home, Nickel added.
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