‘Red wall of flames.’ Sleepy resident narrowly escapes inferno in California home

Scott Amerman woke Sunday morning to a neighbor pounding on his door and screaming that he had to get out of his mobile home in Southern California.

A neighboring mobile home in Jamul, near San Diego, had caught fire and the blaze had spread to Amerman’s home, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“I could see the red wall of flames rolling up against my sunroom glass,” Amerman told KSWB. “It was literally seconds to get out of the house.”

After he escaped, the glass gave way and “flames were sweeping through the house,” Amerman said, according to the station.

The Sunday morning blaze destroyed one mobile home and damaged another, displacing one resident from each home, Cal Fire San Diego posted on Twitter. No one was injured.

Fire officials say the blaze began at 7:39 a.m. at the mobile home park on Highway 94 near Lyons Valley Road, The Times of San Diego reported.

Firefighters had to close Highway 94 to traffic to connect their hoses to a hydrant across the road, according to the publication.

“We try not to lay hose across highways but if the need calls for it, that’s what we do,” said Cal Fire spokesman Thomas Shoots, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 1:32 PM with the headline "‘Red wall of flames.’ Sleepy resident narrowly escapes inferno in California home."