Redmond man rescued from mattress fire

Redmond firefighters on Saturday rescued an elderly man in a wheelchair whose mattress caught fire because he was smoking on his bed, officials said.

Crews responded around 2:15 p.m. to a call from the man reporting the house fire in the 3600 block of Southwest 30th Street, saying he was in a wheelchair inside and unable to evacuate, Battalion Chief Jeff Puller said.

Crews arrived to find and put out a smoldering, smoky mattress in a back bedroom, Puller said, as smoke alarms began to sound. He added that the fire did not extend beyond the mattress, which was removed through a back door.

The elderly occupant in a wheelchair was protected by firefighters and sheltered in an unaffected bedroom in another part of the house. Puller said firefighters used positive-pressure ventilation fans to clear the house of smoke.

There were no injuries in the fire, which caused about $1,000 in losses and kept crews on scene for about an hour. The home’s three occupants declined help from the American Red Cross, as they have family members in town, Puller said.

“Redmond Fire and Rescue would like to remind everyone that smoking cigarettes should not be done which in bed but in a well-ventilated place with proper ashtrays,” the battalion chief said in a news release.