Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala
Karkala, Apr 9: An 80-year-old man sustained critical burn injuries while attempting to extinguish a fire that accidentally broke out in his plantation at Bajekala in Nitte village on Thursday morning.
The injured person has been identified as Jayakara Shetty, a resident of 'Shivapooja' house in Bajekala. He is currently undergoing treatment at KMC Hospital, Manipal.
The incident occurred around 10:30 am when a fire suddenly broke out in Shetty’s plantation, which consists of coconut and areca nut trees. Due to the presence of dry vegetation, the flames spread rapidly across the area. Shetty immediately rushed to douse the fire himself, but the intensity of the flames caused him to get trapped in the blaze.
Hearing his wife Pushpa's cries for help, local resident Sadananda Hegde and others rushed to the spot. By then, Shetty had already sustained severe burns on several parts of his body. Karkala fire station personnel, who arrived promptly, rescued him and shifted him to the hospital via ambulance.
Fire station officer Albert Monis, assistant station officer Chandrashekhar, and staff members Achyut Karkera, Hariprasad, Basavaraj, and Lokesh conducted the operation and successfully brought the fire under control.