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       #Post#: 147--------------------------------------------------
       EARLY MORNING FIRE IN LAS VEGAS
       By: wolfie Date: February 13, 2011, 3:18 am
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       Man, 80, loses everything in fire but escapes his home of 30
       years
       LAS VEGAS FIRE AND RESCUE
       Fire destroyed a mobile home Saturday morning at 4309 Zinnia
       Lane. Firefighters said an 80-year-old man lost everything in
       the blaze, but said he was lucky to escape with injuries that
       weren’t life-threatening.
       By Sun Staff (contact)
       Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011 | 9:46 a.m.
       
       LAS VEGAS FIRE AND RESCUE
       Fire destroyed a mobile home Saturday morning at 4309 Zinnia
       Lane. Firefighters said an 80-year-old man lost everything in
       the blaze, but said he was lucky to escape with injuries that
       weren't life-threatening.
       An 80-year-old man who lived alone in an uninsured mobile home
       with no smoke alarms lost everything in a fire this morning, but
       firefighters said he's lucky to be alive.
       Las Vegas Fire and Rescue responded about 5 a.m. to the fire at
       a single-wide mobile home at 4309 Zinnia Lane, near Craig Road
       and Rainbow Boulevard. Fire department spokesman Tim Szymanski
       said the man suffered injuries that weren't life-threatening.
       Firefighters said the man told them he was asleep, but woke
       because he was choking and it felt like his lungs were on fire.
       He noticed his home was full of smoke and saw a recliner in the
       living room on fire, then he tried to push it out a sliding
       glass door.
       He was burned in the process, so he went to his car and starting
       sounding its horn. Neighbors heard the noise and ran outside to
       help the man and spray water on the fire, but it was too
       intense, Szymanski said.
       Firefighters arrived to find the home fully engulfed in flames
       and extinguished the fire in about 10 minutes. The man, who
       served as a Marine, was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation
       and burns to his hands, firefighters said.
       Investigators ruled the fire accidental in nature and said it
       started in or near the chair that the man described.
       Firefighters found an extension cord in the area that the man
       said he used to power an electric space heater, Szymanski said.
       The man told investigators he didn't smoke or use candles.
       Authorities said the man's home -- where he has lived for 30
       years -- is paid for, but he has no insurance. Szymanski said
       the man has no family in Las Vegas.
       The man used to work as a groundskeeper for a Las Vegas country
       club, Szymanski said. He is receiving help from the American Red
       Cross and got $200 from the Las Vegas Fire & Rescue Foundation.
       "The man knows he is extremely lucky to be alive for the fact he
       did not have smoke alarms in his home," Szymanski said in a
       statement. "He could have easily been overcome by the smoke and
       have died in the quick-burning fire."
       He cautioned residents against using extension cords with space
       heaters, saying they should be plugged directly into the outlet.
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