Firefighter injured as another home goes up in flames





A firefighter was injured while battling a blaze at a Thousand Oaks home last week.

At about 4:50 a.m. Wed., Jan. 21, a call came in to the Ventura County Fire Department reporting a house on fire in the 2200 block of Indian Sky Lane.

When firefighters arrived at the 5,000-square-foot home, the fire was well involved, said Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Capt. Ron Oatman.

Firefighters began with an aggressive interior attack on the first floor, but the fire was burning so intensely they had to exit and battle the flames from the outside, Oatman said.

The two-alarm fire brought 11 engines and three ladder trucks with about 50 firefighters to the scene, the captain said. It took about an hour to extinguish it.

“One firefighter was injured from smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion,” Oatman said.

He was transported to Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center.

The unoccupied home, under construction but near completion at the time of the fire, could be a total loss, Oatman said. The cause is under investigation.

—Nancy Needham