Bedridden man killed, 2 injured in house fire in Rancho Palos Verdes

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (KABC) -- A man, described by his family as bedridden from a rare disease, was killed in a house fire in Rancho Palos Verdes Tuesday morning.

According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the blaze was reported just before 12:30 a.m. at a residence in the 2000 block of Trudie Drive. Firefighters arrived to find smoke and flames emanating from the single-story structure.

The victim was identified by family members as a 48-year-old man. They said he wasn't able to get out of the burning home on his own as he was bedridden from an illness he had been battling for the past year.

His 86-year-old mother was able to make it out. As she was wheeled into an ambulance, she described opening her bedroom door and facing a wall of flames.

Family members said the man stayed in the front part of the house, which was set up like a hospital room.

The man and his mother were transported to a hospital, where one of them was listed in critical condition. Fire officials later confirmed that the man died. A distraught man at the scene said the deceased person was his brother.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury battling the blaze, which was knocked down shortly before 1 a.m.