The last thing 54-year-old Odessa resident David Sanders expected was to see smoke and fire destroy the small home he lived in for the past 38 years on North Redondo Avenue.
When he woke up, Sanders said, he jumped out of bed, grabbed a few pictures and clothes and called 911 to say his house was on fire.
“Don’t go to sleep with a cigarette,” Sanders warned after being treated for minor smoke inhalation.
Dispatchers received Sanders’ call at 4:47 p.m. and sent crews of firefighters to 1028 N. Redondo Ave. where the fire, which they doused, left the home with metal siding a total loss, Odessa Fire Battalion Chief Bobby White said.
Sanders was the sole occupant of the single-story home, and he had made the emergency call. He advised, or told, the dispatcher that was smoking in bed, White said.
Sanders once lived at the home with his mother during the near-four decades he occupied it but she had died, he said. Sanders said he works as a pizza delivery man.
White said a chapter of the local Red Cross was called to help out Sanders.
Despite having lost his home to fire, Sanders spirits wasn’t dampened as he knew he was lucky enough to walk away from the ordeal in one piece.
“I’m just glad everything is OK,” he said.
