An elderly man was seriously burned Saturday afternoon when a backyard shed caught fire west of downtown.
Calls were made to 911 about 1 p.m. to report smoke and flames in the 200 block of North Palomas Avenue just west of Grande Avenue.
"One caller could see tall flames from 'A' Mountain. Another caller reported hearing explosions and someone screaming from inside," reported Capt. Jeff Langejans of the Tucson Fire Department.
A neighbor found an elderly disabled man with severe burns trying to escape from the blaze. The injured man had been living in a family member's backyard, either in or just outside the shed. The neighbor pulled the man to safety and used water from a garden hose to cool his seared skin.
"He was already burned pretty badly when the neighbor got the hose. At about that time our paramedics arrived," Lang-ejans said. The victim was taken to a Tucson hospital with life-threatening injuries and was expected to be taken to a burn center in Phoenix, Langejans said.
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It took 21 firefighters 10 minutes to get the blaze under control despite several obstacles. By the time crews arrived, the fire had spread to an overhead electrical line, which dropped into the yard while arcing. A considerable amount of junk near the shed added fuel to the fire. And winds accelerated the spread toward a neighbor's home. Firefighters, however, were able to control the blaze before it damaged any other structures.
Because of the extent of the damage and the amount of junk in the yard, the cause of the fire was undetermined, said Lang-ejans, who recommends residents create a "defensible space" around their homes and structures that is clear of combustibles. He suggests a 30-foot area be cleared of dry vegetation and other materials that can feed a fire.
