Fire torches a valley house, injuring a homeowner and threatening a daycare next door. It happened near Torrey Pines and Alta drives.
13 Action News talked with a mom who feared she worst.
“I saw these huge flames,” said Erin Stafford, was driving to pick up her two sons from daycare.
At first, Stafford didn’t realize the smoke and flames were roaring out of this home right next door. “As I saw the smoke I was driving a lot faster to get there,” Stafford said, her sons, just six months old and three years old, next door. “I’m, at this point, in panic mode.”
The fire broke out just before 3 p.m. Friday. The man who lives the home that caught fire, at first, tried to put out the flames himself with no luck.
All Stafford could think about was racing to her children. “I was extremely scared for their lives,” she said. “I’m, like speeding down that street and slammed on the brakes, run out of the car.”
Stafford finally got there and bolted to the front door. “My only focus was getting my kids out of there.”
The only ones who weren’t worrying were her kids, her six-month-old practically sleeping through the whole ordeal. “He doesn’t know what’s going on yet.”
Her three-year-old was having the time of his life. “My son was extremely excited. He loves firemen. It was the best day of his life.”
The man who tried to put out the fire suffered burns from his knees down to his feet. A neighbor had to help him to safety. That victim was taken to the hospital for treatment.
