SEBASTIAN — A 74-year-old man and his 68-year-old wife were being treated for burns following a mid-day fire in one unit of a four-unit duplex in the 1000 block of Louisiana Avenue, said Steve Marcinik, Sebastian Police Department spokesman.
The fire is extinguished and Indian River County fire investigators are at the scene to determine a cause.
Rescue officials were alerted to the fire at 12:08 p.m. by a call to 911. When they arrived, heavy black smoke billowed from the structure.
The woman reportedly was on the floor of the rear bedroom where the fire broke out. She was yelling for help, when two police officers rushed into the building to her, Marcinik said.
The couple’s 49-year-old daughter was returning to the duplex and spotted the fire, according to police. She ran to the rear of the house to spray water into the bedroom, with the help of a neighbor. The neighbor called 911.
Officers pulled the couple from the fire. The woman was taken via trauma helicopter to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Marcinik said. She had burns over 70 percent of her body, he said.
The man went to the hospital by ambulance. Officials did not know the extent of his burns.
Fire officials said there was an oxygen tank near the front door, which could have exploded, had the fire spread to the front of the home.
Four fire trucks responded to the blaze, including a ladder truck. The fire was extinguished within 10 minutes of arrival on the scene, officials said.
One other residence was occupied at the time of the fire. The resident was not injured; he left the building and his home was unaffected.
