ESCONDIDO, Calif. (KGTV) – An elderly woman was killed in a fire that erupted at an Escondido home early Thursday morning, San Diego County sheriff’s officials said.
The blaze was reported at around 2:30 a.m. in the 2400 block of Alexander Drive, according to sheriff’s officials.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene and found a man in his 80s outside of the house with burn injuries. Deputies then went inside the burning home, woke up a man in his 50s and helped him leave the house.
Officials said deputies “attempted to search for an additional victim upstairs but were forced back by flames and smoke.”
Responding firefighters entered the structure and found an elderly woman upstairs. She was taken out of the house and rushed to the hospital.
A woman told ABC 10News that two of the home’s occupants were her parents. She said her mother passed away at the hospital, but she did not know her father’s condition at the time.
In a press release issued after 7 a.m., sheriff's officials confirmed the woman died from her injuries and the man “suffered smoke inhalation and burns and was taken to a hospital with non life-threatening injuries.”
The President of the Kiwanis Club of Escondido Hidden Valley, Ron Rybak, sent ABC 10News a statement Thursday afternoon.
To Escondido Kiwanis –
It is with a heavy heart that I must inform all of you that Reverend Dick Huls has been taken to the UCSD Burn Center early this morning with critical injuries that resulted from severe burns and smoke inhalation. His home was destroyed by a house fire in the early morning hours. Tragically, Dick’s wife Marsha succumbed to her injuries, and unfortunately has passed away.
Past President Dick Huls has been a Kiwanis Member for almost 60 YEARS, and his birthday is this Father’s Day. Marsha was a loving and very kind person. Keep them both in your thoughts and prayers.
Randy Ortleib will be our Clubs’ point person and family contact, and will keep us updated on Dick’s condition, and his healing process.
Firefighters remained at the scene through the morning to put out multiple hot spots on the property.
Officials said the sheriff’s Bomb/Arson Unit is investigating the cause of the fire.
