Man dies after being pulled from burning apartment southwest of Modesto
A 43-year-old man died at a hospital after being removed from a burning apartment on the 1500 block of Robertson Road southwest of Modesto on Monday morning.
Shortly before 5 a.m., crews from the Modesto and Ceres fire departments responded to the call. They found a fire in the bedroom of a first-floor apartment, according to a Modesto battalion chief’s incident summary.
A neighbor immediately told a captain he believed someone still was in the apartment, Battalion Chief Mike Shockey said. Firefighters simultaneously battled the blaze and searched the apartment, finding Abel Maldonado-Olide within just a couple of minutes, he said. Shockey did not immediately know where in the apartment he was found.
“When they brought him out into the yard, they started CPR immediately,” Shockey said. “Then one of our paramedic firefighters managed care and went with AMR in the ambulance, continuing CPR on the way to the hospital.”
No one else was in the apartment, not did anyone else at the scene report living there, the battalion chief said.
The fire was upgraded to a second alarm, drawing more resources. It heavily damaged the apartment of origin and resulted in smoke and water damage to three others.
The American Red Cross went to the scene to assist five adults who were displaced by the fire.
The Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit is working the case.
This story was originally published December 23, 2019 at 12:06 PM.
