Boyle Heights, CA -
(CNS) - A Boyle Heights house without smoke alarms went up in flames today, and a 90-year-old man and his 70-year-old wife were severely injured, authorities said.
The fire was reported about 9 a.m. in the 3100 block of Malabar Street, said Brian Humphrey of the Los Angeles Fire Department. It was doused in about 20 minutes, he said.
Images from the scene showed paramedics pumping the chest of at least one victim outside the burning home. The man and woman were transported for hospital treatment in "grave condition," Humphrey said.
A damage estimate was not immediately available, said Humphrey, who described the home as "destroyed."
Humphrey said the house had no smoke alarms, and was equipped with security bars on the windows that could not be released from inside, as is required by law.
Two men dropping off children at a nearby elementary school kicked open the back door of the house, and pulled the woman out of the burning structure, Humphrey said. Firefighters then went into the burning home and pulled the man out, Humphrey said.
Two firefighters were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.
