Man with one leg rescues young daughter from burning house
Published: May 28, 2005
A man with only one leg managed to escape his burning home this afternoon carrying his 21/2-year-old daughter.
“I hopped like hell,” a shaken Danny Brogan said from outside his Vancouver Way home, which the fire department said is “nearly totaled” from the fire.
Brogan said that at 11 a.m. today, after working on his deck, he picked his daughter up from a babysitter, fed her lunch and put her down for a nap, then fell asleep on a couch in the study.
“I woke up and saw the drapes (in the family) room blazing,” said Brogan, who quickly scrambled to his daughter’s room. “She was sleeping good. I grabbed her and got out.” His wife was not home at the time.
Brogan, who said he lost a leg to cancer in 1997, came out through the garage and hopped next door for help, holding a crutch in one hand and clutching his daughter in his other arm.
Meanwhile, motorists stopping on the street alerted neighbors to call 911. Firefighters received the call to the 1400 block of Vancouver Way at 2:37 p.m.
The blaze was fought by 17 firefighters. One of them, Rick Lamb, was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation and released.
Glen Haendel, division chief for the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department, said the fire consumed the living room, kitchen, hallway, study and at least two of four bedrooms, extending into the attic and causing heavy smoke damage elsewhere.
“It’s nearly totaled,” Haendel said of the house. He said this afternoon cause of the fire was still under investigation but that it apparently started behind a family room television set.
Haendel advised people to be extra aware of fire hazards coming into the hot summer months.
Also, “It’s a perfect time to check smoke detectors and make sure there are two ways to get out of the house,” he said.
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