Kitchen fire burns woman, prompts evacuation

A senior living center was evacuated Thursday afternoon following a fire in one of its apartments that severely burned an elderly woman.

According to Mike Erfert, a spokesman for the Yuma Fire Department, firefighters responded to the La Mariposa Villas, 701 E. 24th St., just before 4 p.m.

Upon their arrival, firefighters found smoke on the second floor and the building in the process of being evacuated. Once inside, firefighters found a 72-year-old woman in the hallway outside her apartment with serious burns.

YFD paramedics treated the woman and she was transported to the Yuma Regional Medical Center. Erfert said she was later flown to Phoenix due to the seriousness of her burn injuries.

Erfert said firefighters ventilated the smoke from the building, and the other residents of the complex were able to reoccupy their apartments a short time later.

Fire investigators determined the fire started in the kitchen, catching the woman's clothing on fire. The fire was put out by a neighbor using a fire extinguisher, but not before it had spread to a piece of furniture.

“The fire extinguisher used was one mounted outside the apartment in the hallway,” Erfert said. “It goes to show how important it is to know their locations.”

Erfert added that the complex is equipped with sprinkler systems in the rooms and hallways but they had not been set off by the fire.

The victim's husband was home at the time and was not injured.

Cooking fires are the No. 1 cause of fires in the home. YFD participates in the National Fire Protection Association's Remembering When program, teaching seniors about fire safety and fall prevention. For more information about the program, call Erfert or Kayla Holiman at 373-4850.