Unconscious woman rescued from blaze at Oceanside studio apartment

OCEANSIDE (CNS) - An unconscious woman was rescued from a blaze inside her Oceanside studio apartment and airlifted to a San Diego hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, authorities said Tuesday.

The fire, which investigators determined was caused by cigarettes, was reported around 8:50 p.m. Monday inside a studio apartment behind a house on Loretta Street just south of state Route 76, Oceanside Fire Battalion Chief Jessamyn Specht said.

Firefighters arrived and made entry into the fire and smoke-filled unit, then found a woman unconscious on the floor, Specht said.

"Firefighters pulled the woman from the apartment and immediately began treating (her) for smoke inhalation while another fire crew simultaneously extinguished the fire,'' he said.

The flames were knocked down within 12 minutes and the fire burned only the contents of the apartment, not the structure, Specht said.

The victim, whose age was not immediately available, was taken by ground ambulance to a helicopter, then airlifted to the burn unit at UC San Diego Medical Center in San Diego's Hillcrest neighborhood, Specht said. The extent of her injuries was not immediately known.