Woman, 87, Dies of Injuries Suffered in Explosion

Josephine Codd, a former nurse for the 20th Century Fox studio, has died of injuries suffered in an explosion and fire at the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s retirement home in Woodland Hills, officials said Thursday.

Codd, 87, died Wednesday evening at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center, said center spokesman Larry Weinberg. She had suffered severe burns over nearly two-thirds of her body.

“The size and nature of this injury overwhelmed her,” Weinberg said.

The Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating the possibility that a gas leak sparked the explosion at Codd’s bungalow in the retirement complex.

Codd had complained of a gas odor, and a maintenance worker checked the unit Feb. 19 but did not find a problem, according to documents released this week by the state agency that regulates retirement homes.

Codd, widow of late Fox treasurer Jack Codd, had complained about the odor for months, friends and relatives said.

“She woke up every morning and felt she had to air her cottage out,” said Ione Haugh, who said she also smelled gas in Codd’s bungalow the past year and a half.

Retirement home officials declined comment Thursday, but spokeswoman Carol Pfannkuche said they were deeply sorry over Codd’s death.

“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to her family and friends,” Pfannkuche said. “She has been an important part of the [retirement home] family and will be missed by us all.”

Neighbors and friends said Codd delighted in tracking her stock portfolio and read the Wall Street Journal every morning.

“Jo loved to play bingo,” said Helen Balker, 83, who has lived at the home for 11 years. “It was so funny but Jo managed to win almost every time. She was a lovely lady.”

Jo Guihama, a social worker at the facility, said Codd also enjoyed telling stories about her days as a nurse. “She definitely carried over that caretaker role she had in the industry as a nurse to her life here, as well,” Guihama said. “If another resident was going through a hard time she was very supportive, very caring.”

A former resident of Beverly Hills, Codd moved to the home in 1998.

While the Fire Department looks to find a cause of the blaze, the state Department of Social Services is reviewing the home’s maintenance records.

“We’re tracking the fire very closely,” said Martha Lopez, Social Service deputy director of community care licensing. She said the home had a good safety record.

*

Times staff writer Michael Krikorian contributed to this story.