Man Dies From Burns After Fire

A wheelchair-bound Lancaster man died Monday from burns suffered in a fire at his home, authorities said.

David Wilkinson, 45, whose left side was paralyzed, was asleep on the living room couch about 8:30 p.m. Sunday when it caught fire, said fire officials and Rita Dingman, the landlord’s daughter.

Firefighters pulled Wilkinson from the burning home in the 1100 block of Oldfield Street, said Ed Pickett, a Los Angeles County Fire Department supervising dispatcher.

He was taken to Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center with second- and third-degree burns over 90% of his body.

Wilkinson’s wife, Elizabeth, was asleep in the bedroom of the single-story home. She ran out of the home yelling, “Fire,” and neighbors called the Fire Department, Dingman said. She was not seriously injured.

“He was badly burned,” Dingman said of David Wilkinson. “. . . It was hard to pull him out because he can’t walk. He needs care nightly. He sleeps on the sofa.”

The couple have lived in the home for about two years, Dingman said.

The fire caused an estimated $65,000 damage to the home Dingman’s father has owned for almost 40 years.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, but Pickett said it did not appear to be suspicious.