By Chelsea Phua and Carlos Alcala
calcala@sacbee.com
A man who died after being pulled from his burning Watt Avenue home has been identified as Antonio M. Brunozzi.
Good Samaritans attempted to pull Brunozzi, 60, from his burning home on the 1400 block of Watt Avenue. He was taken to an area hospital with severe burns and succumbed.
The one-alarm fire was reported before 8 p.m., and neighbors tried to slow flames with a garden hose before firefighters arrived.
The neighbor used the hose to keep the fire at bay and tried to drag the victim out, yelling for help at the same time. Another man heard his cries and helped the neighbor pull the victim outside.
When firefighters arrived, they found the victim lying on the front porch and began treating him, officials said. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and did not find anyone else inside the home.
Assistant Chief Brian Rice of the Metropolitan Fire District praised the men's actions as heroic, saying that they put their lives at risk to save the victim.
"Had these people not try to get him out, then that person would have perished absolutely," Rice said.
The neighbor was transported to hospital for moderate smoke inhalation, Rice said.
Fire officials said the cause of the fire remains under investigation. Rice said the interior of the house was destroyed.
The cause has not been determined, Rice said. The fire, believed to have started accidentally, began in a bedroom, he said.
Call The Bee's Carlos Alcala, (916) 321-1079.
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