Man Airlifted To Hospital With Critical Burns

EL CERRITO, CA — A 68-year-old man suffered serious burn injuries in an apartment fire in El Cerrito on Monday night, a battalion chief said.

The blaze was reported at 8:52 p.m. at 10203 San Pablo Ave.

Firefighters responded and found smoke and fire coming out of a ground-floor unit at the building, El Cerrito Fire Battalion Chief Michael Bond said.

Firefighters began trying to extinguish the fire and found the man, who was taken by helicopter to a burn center with second- and third-degree burns over 30 to 40 percent of his body, Bond said.

The blaze was eventually extinguished and crews contained it to the apartment where it started, according to Bond.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. It "pretty much destroyed" the unit where it started, Bond said, but an exact damage estimate was not immediately available.

— Bay City News; File Image via Rodeo-Hercules Fire Department