Man Burned in Fire; Cocaine Heating Cited

A young man allegedly free-basing cocaine ignited a fire that left his elderly grandfather hospitalized with second-degree facial and lung burns, authorities said Sunday.

Shortly after midnight, 27-year-old Steven Waggoner was using a miniature propane torch in the living room of his grandfather’s home in the 100 block of East Clarion Drive in Carson, according to Los Angeles County Fire Capt. James A. Brewer.

Waggoner, who also lives in the house, apparently was heating cocaine so he could inhale the fumes, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Gabe Ramirez.

A fire smoldered in the chair where Waggoner had been sitting and, at 1:26 a.m., Brewer’s Fire Department Station 36 got a call that flames had broken out.

Boarders Escape

By that time, Waggoner was away from the house. Boarders Lourdes Darlucio and her son Rey escaped without injury and yelled to Waggoner’s grandfather, Filimino Carbonel, to flee.

But Carbonel, 78, was trapped in the living room, trying to feel his way through the fire and smoke.

One neighbor, Terry Benas, opened the front door and helped Carbonel find the route outside. Another, John White, used a garden hose to put the fire out.

Brewer estimated fire and smoke damage to the house at $5,000 and the value of lost contents as $2,000.

Carbonel was in serious but stable condition at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance.

When Waggoner returned home and saw what happened, he was horrified, Brewer said. Waggoner was booked for investigation of unspecified drug charges, Ramirez said.