85-Year-Old Man Dies in Retirement Home Fire

A small fire broke out Monday morning in a room at a Canoga Park retirement home, killing an 85-year-old man and forcing the temporary evacuation of several residents, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.

An employee of the home tried to rescue the man from his burning room but was driven back and suffered slight injuries from smoke inhalation.

The fire was reported at 3:39 a.m. at the Topanga Park Retirement Living Center in the 7900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Fire Inspector Manny Hernandez said the cause was believed to be an electrical short circuit, possibly from a reading lamp used by the victim. The fire started near the man’s bed, but he was not a smoker, officials said.

The fire was quickly put out by about 20 firefighters, but the man, who lived by himself in the second-story room, was already dead.

The name of the victim, who had lived at the center about two years, was not released, pending notification of his family.

“It appears that he tried to get away,” Hernandez said of the victim. “He was found on the floor near the door to the room.”

Before firefighters arrived, Delores Sevilla, an employee alerted by a smoke detector, attempted to enter the man’s room but was forced to retreat because of heavy smoke, said Rich Lamona, administrator of the 9-year-old center.

Sevilla was taken to West Park Hospital in Canoga Park where she was treated for smoke inhalation.

No other injuries were reported. Lamona said about 25 residents were evacuated from rooms near the fire in a rear wing of the complex. They were returned to their rooms in about two hours.

The fire caused an estimated $5,000 damage to the dead man’s room, fire officials said. Hernandez said investigators found no fire code violations at the center.