Corona del Mar fire victim dies
A man injured in a Corona del Mar house fire died Tuesday morning, officials said.
Donald Lee, 57, died at 8:54 a.m. at Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, according to an Orange County coroner’s office press release.
An autopsy is scheduled for later this week, but all indications are that he died of injuries suffered in the fire, Deputy Coroner Daniel Aikin said.
It remained unclear Tuesday afternoon what started the fire Monday at a house in the 600 block of Marguerite Avenue, where Lee lived in an upstairs unit.
Two Newport Beach police officers who tried to rescue Lee were also injured. They were treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation at a local hospital and then released, authorities said.
The officers were first on the scene and attempted to pull Lee from a second-story window of the flaming unit over the garage, fire officials said.
A Newport firefighter later succeeded in pulling him out and lowering him to the officers waiting below.
The unit was considered a total loss, according to fire officials.
Twitter: @lawilliams30