UPDATED: Murrieta woman, 58, rescued by firefighters as roof collapses around them, dies

UPDATED: Monday, Mar. 19, 8 p.m.

MURRIETA — A woman pulled from a burning home – even as the roof was collapsing down around firefighters as they pulled her out of the house to safety – later died from injuries she received inside the inferno.

Images of the dramatic rescue efforts were captured by Joe Fanaselle, a local freelance photographer.

Firefighters had reportedly already begun battling the blaze when they received reports from an area resident that a person might still be inside the residence.

Despite the fact that the home’s roof was beginning to sag from the flames and intense heat and was showing warning signs of imminent collapse, firefighters raced into the home and felt their way through the smoke-blackened darkness searching for the victim.

After finding the unconscious woman, firefighters carried her outside where she was rushed to Rancho Springs Medical Center and later died.

The day after the heroic rescue, Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s officials identified the victim as 58-year-old, Rama Iaco, of Murrieta.

According to a coroner’s release, Iaco died shortly less than an hour after the fire was reported and emergency room staff at Rancho Springs pronounced her dead at 2:12 p.m.

The cause of the fire that destroyed the residence is still under investigation and fire officials have not released any further information since yesterday.

 

ORIGINAL STORY: Dramatic rescue as firefighters pull woman from burning home as roof collapses

MURRIETA — A local freelance photographer who was on scene of a residential structure fire captured a dramatic rescue when firefighters rushed into a raging inferno and rescued a woman from the blaze – even as the roof of the house was beginning to collapse in around them.

Firefighters were seen carrying the victim’s lifeless body from the home, which was destroyed by the fire. She was rushed to an area hospital with “major” injuries according to fire officials.

Emergency first responders from multiple area police and fire agencies were dispatched to the home on the 39000 block of Cardiff Avenue about 1:15 p.m., after receiving several 911 calls reporting the residential structure fire.

According to 911 callers the home, located in an unincorporated area of Murrieta, just outside Temecula city boundaries, had flames and smoke showing from the roof.

Twenty-nine Cal Fire and Murrieta Fire Protection District firefighters from seven engine companies and one truck company responded to the fire, Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire spokeswoman Tawny Cabral explained in an incident report. They were assisted by a Breathing Support Unit.

Officials began arriving at the home within minutes and the first arriving engine company reported smoke and flames billowing from the roof and rear windows of a single-story home. Several neighbors, area residents and others could be seen milling the streets watching in shock as flames ravaged the home.

Firefighters were setting up to begin an aggressive attack on the fire when a neighbor reported that a woman was possibly still inside the home. Several firefighters immediately shifted into rescue mode and rushed into the residence as flames burst from nearly every door and window.

From outside, firefighters battling the blaze reported that the home’s roof had begun sagging and was showing signs of imminent collapse.

While firefighters outside the home directed water onto the blaze, firefighters inside the home searched through the thick, smoke-filled darkness of the residence. Through orange, flame-tinted smoke, firefighters eventually located the victim and fire official’s radios outside the home crackled to life with word of the woman’s discovery with an update that firefighters were carrying the victim out of the home.

Joe Fanaselle, a local freelance photographer, caught the exact moment firefighters carried the smoke-blackened and soot covered woman out of the burning house and rushed her to a waiting gurney in the home’s front yard.

American Medical Response medics rushed the victim by ambulance to a local hospital. She was reportedly in serious condition with major injuries.

While firefighters battled the blaze, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Southwest Station provided vehicular and pedestrian traffic control due to heavy vehicle traffic and what Fanaselle described as “a large group” of bystanders, which had formed to watch the dramatic incident and woman’s rescue unfold.

Deputies used their vehicles to block off area streets and worked to redirect traffic away from the residential neighborhood where fire apparatus, ambulances and fire command vehicles were lined up and down the normally quiet street.

The blaze was well-established by the time firefighters began dousing the flames and despite an aggressive fire attack, the roof of the home eventually collapsed and it took more than two dozen firefighters an hour and 15 minutes to fully contain the fire.

After the blaze was extinguished, exhausted firefighters gathered on the home’s small front lawn – taking up nearly every inch of the grass – as they drank water, removed their equipment and quietly discussed the fire and victim’s rescue.

While firefighters sifted through the charred remains of the home and began extensive overhaul on the burned-out house, children’s bicycles, small toys and a patio set could be seen near a built-in grill in the clean and tidy back yard. The home’s roof had collapsed in on the house from the flames and heat and part of the home’s back wall had begun to collapse inward as well.

Southern California Edison and Southern California Gas Company later responded to the scene to shut off utilities to the destroyed home.

Fire officials later estimated the fire loss at approximately $300,000; however, they estimated their efforts saved about $150,000 in property and personal belongings.

The cause of the fire is under investigation and a fire investigator responded to the scene to assist in the investigation, according to Cabral.

No firefighters or other citizens were injured in the fire.

This is a developing story that will be updated as information becomes available.

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Contact the writer: [email protected]

Trevor Montgomery, who recently moved from Riverside County to Shasta County, runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for Riverside County based newspapers Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident.

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.