Boy suffers severe burns in RV fire

BY COLBY FRAZIER
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A 16-year-old boy was severely burned yesterday after the 18-foot motor home he was riding in burst into flames just south of the Mariposa Reina exit on Highway 101.
Santa Barbara County Fire crews were dispatched to the vehicle fire at 1:17 p.m. When they arrived they found the motor home fully engulfed in flames and 76-year-old Martin Steinbach, the owner of the RV, performing CPR on the boy.

Steinbach pulled the RV to the side of the road when he noticed smoke billowing inside the vehicle, said Officer Donald Clotworthy, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.
Clotworthy said Steinbach managed to escape from the RV, but the boy, identified as Peter Delira of San Francisco, was trapped in the back. He said several witnesses stopped to render aid, and one man managed to pry the RV’s back door open and carry Delira to safety.
“The male victim was not breathing and did not have a pulse,” Clotworthy said. “Mr. Steinbach began CPR in an attempt to revive the victim.”
He said the boy’s breathing was restored, but he suffered second and third degree burns.
County Fire Capt. Eli Iskow said the boy’s family was following the motor home when the fire broke out.
The boy was transported by ambulance to Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Clotworthy said he is listed in critical, but stable condition.
One northbound lane was closed for about an hour while the charred wreckage was removed.
Iskow said the RV fire caused a small brush fire, but firefighters were able to douse the flames shortly after arriving on the scene.
He said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.