Investigation Continues into Cause of Blackhawk Fire
Tuesday night blaze on Deer Meadow Drive claims life of family physician's 19-year-old son Benjamin Litman, a student at Venture School in San Ramon.
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Firefighters don't yet know what caused a Tuesday night fire in Blackhawk that left a 19-year-old dead and his father in critical condition.
Killed was Benjamin Litman, a student at Venture School in San Ramon. His father, physician Robert Litman, was found unconscious inside the home and remains hospitalized in San Jose.
The fire swept through the large two-story home at 2978 Deer Meadow Drive around 11:15 p.m.
According to a website for Robert Litman, he is a 62-year-old family physician in San Ramon specializing in allergy care.
Staff answering the phone at his Norris Canyon Road office said they did not want to comment.
The coroner's office identified the son as Benjamin Litman, Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee said. The 19-year-old was found dead in a bedroom. His mother reportedly arrived home during the fire.
The victim's father was found unconscious in a bedroom and was suffering from smoke inhalation, said Fire Chief Richard Price. The father was treated by San Ramon Valley paramedics and flown by helicopter to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose. The hospital said Wednesday the father is in critical condition.
The two family dogs were also killed in the fire.
The San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District responded to the call from a fire alarm monitoring company reporting a smoke detector activation. When fire crews arrived they found the roof of the home covered with flames. Chief Price said it was unclear why the father and son were not alerted by the alarm system.
Crews responded with six engines, two trucks, two paramedic ambulances, four chief officers, one safety officer and two fire investigators.
The home sustained approximately $1.5 million in damage and $500,000 in lost contents.
See live video of the fire here.
Patch San Ramon Editor Jennifer Wadsworth and Patch freelance writer Charles Nguyen contributed to this story.
Martha Ross
12:14 pm on Wednesday, June 23, 2010
KTVU reported: "Fire officials said they were trying find out why a sophisticated alarm system did not sound in the home to awaken the men. The fire caused $2 million in damage to the home."
Ari Soglin
12:20 pm on Wednesday, June 23, 2010
More about that alarm from Danville Weekly:
Price noted that the call came in as a fire alarm activation, not a structure fire, through a supervised detection system. When crews arrived, they realized it was in fact a structure fire, he said.
"It was pretty unique," Price said. "There was no report or second report of smoke. So it's a fire alarm sounding, if it was activated, and they weren't able to get out of the house. You'd think that when the fire alarm went off, there would have been a local alarm that would have given people time to get out."
Elizabeth Shemaria
3:20 pm on Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Dear Readers,
You may leave your condolences for the family in the comments.
Martha Ross
10:29 pm on Wednesday, June 23, 2010
It's a very sad situation, and the young man's death is not that usual.Came across the National Vital Statistics Report for 2006, which said that a total of 3,109 people died of accidental exposure to smoke, fire and flames. Just 185 between the ages of 15 and 24. This was out of 2,426,264 people who died that year.
Nick Vezmar
12:31 am on Thursday, June 24, 2010
This is why it is very important to install localized smoke detectors as opposed to just depending on a "sophisticated system". Always make sure that both your localized and/or networked detectors are working properly, and to test them every month. Also, it's never a bad idea to consider getting residential sprinklers. They can really prevent fires from getting to this size.
Aside from my fire safety tirade, my condolences and sympathies to the Litman family.
Penny
7:25 am on Thursday, June 24, 2010
My sincerest condolences to the family and my prayers for a safe recovery for Dr.Litman.
stacey vorous
6:10 pm on Thursday, June 24, 2010
Dr. Litman has been my primary care physician for 14 years. This news is so heart breaking. Our sincerest condolences and prayers go out to the Litman family and for the recovery of Dr. Robert Litman.
Ron De Angelo
7:57 pm on Monday, June 28, 2010
Our sincere condolences and prayers for the recovery of our wonderful primary care Physician, Dr. Robert Litman. Our prayers are with the entire family and look forward to Dr. Litman's recovery! He is a fantastic Doctor and human being who cares deeply about all of us that he treats.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you,
Ron and Patricia De Angelo
robert
6:22 pm on Wednesday, June 30, 2010
The Litmans bought all of their Verizon phones from the EVO² store in San Ramon, and so they knew the lead sales specialist there, Stacie Palmer pretty well. Stacie approached the company to set aside a day honoring the Litmans and so this Saturday that store location is gathering donations for the family and donating 50% of profits to the family. Come out and show your support. Here is the info: http://evo2inc.com/news_details.php?news_id=45
Elizabeth Shemaria
6:35 pm on Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Thanks Robert! We will post an announcement on the site about this as well.