home > news > local

Disabled Vet Dies in South Bay Fire

Firefighters could not make it to man due to heavy smoke

Monday, Jul 13, 2009 | Updated 3:30 PM PST

Getty Images

Firefighters controlled the fire about 45 minutes after they arrived.

Santa Clara County fire crews battled a two-alarm fire at a Cupertino home early this morning that killed a quadriplegic veteran and injured his mother.

Family members identified the victim as 53-year-old Marion Medeiros. Medeiros' 78-year-old mother managed to escape the blaze but suffered smoke inhalation and is being treated at a hospital, fire investigator Dennis Johnsen said.

Neighbors on both sides of the house at 10610 Johansen Drive reported the fire at about 4:10 a.m., Johnsen said.

Firefighters tried to kick the door in, but there was too much smoke and fire for crews to get inside, where Medeiros was confined to his bed. The flames were coming out of every door and window, he said.

The house's low-roof design, with 1 1/2 inches of compressed sawdust board beneath the roof, made fighting the fire particularly difficult, he said.

"They get hot very quickly and there's no easy way to ventilate," he said.

The fire reached a gas meter on the left side of the house, which burst into flames and damaged a neighboring home, he said.

The blaze appears to have started somewhere in the middle of the home but investigators have not yet determined the cause, Johnsen said.

Firefighters controlled the fire about 45 minutes after they arrived but the house was still smoldering at 11 a.m. Medeiros' body was not removed until 10:15 a.m.

Nearly a dozen family members spent the morning standing outside the charred home, adjusting to the idea that Medeiros was gone.

The victim was a star athlete at Cupertino High School, said Rachel Medeiros, who is married to Marion's brother Baron.

The two brothers were born a year apart and were best friends, Rachel Medeiros said. They served together in the military until a stroke left Marion Medeiros a quadriplegic 19 years ago.

Before that, Medeiros was "a total military guy" and a "charmer" who loved to go out dancing, Rachel Medeiros said.

"He always had the most gorgeous girlfriends," she remembered.

The family, including Medeiros and his five brothers and three sisters, moved into the house in 1959, according to Medeiros' sister, Jenny.

The Silicon Valley Red Cross arrived at the scene this morning to offer shelter and resources to the household and a small amount of neighbors displaced by the fire.