The man rescued by the Berkeley Fire Department from his burning home at 1716 Ward St. on Aug. 28 died in a San Francisco hospital six days later, on Sept. 3, according to authorities.
The San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed Wednesday that James Owsley, 58, died Sept. 3. A representative said the cause of death is still pending.
Owsley was taken from his home on the night of Wednesday Aug. 28 to Alta Bates Hospital by the Berkeley Fire Department, and was later transferred to the burn unit at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco.
Berkeley Deputy Fire Chief Avery Webb said the cause of the two-alarm fire, which began shortly after 8 p.m on Aug. 28, has yet to be determined.
Firefighters rescued Owsley, who was unconscious, from the rear of the building. Speaking shortly after the fire, Fire Chief Gil Dong said there was a flashover in one of the rooms while firefighters were conducting the rescue. No firefighters were injured during the incident.
The estimated damage to the property, a duplex apartment which is located a block and a half west of Martin Luther King Jr. Way, was valued at $100,000, with $15,000 in content damages.
News of the death comes in the week that another man died in a house fire in Berkeley. Early on Tuesday, Sept. 10, Andrew Goodwin, 56, died in a two-alarm blaze at 2431 Oregon St. Goodwin was a professor at University of San Francisco. The seven other occupants of the apartment building where Goodwin lived escaped unharmed. Deputy Chief Webb said the cause of that fire is also still under investigation.
Related:
Berkeley man dies in house fire on Oregon Street (o9.10.13)
Berkeley fire crew rescues person from home fire on Ward St. (08.30.13)
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