Firefighters pulled a 68-year-old man out of as his Turlock residence Sunday afternoon as his home filled with smoke from a stove fire.

The man was found inside the home at 1780 N. Denair Avenue around 12:20 p.m. Sunday and was disorientated from the accumulating smoke in the house. He was treated on the scene by American Medical Response personnel for smoke inhalation and then transported to a nearby hospital for further treatment.

“Firefighter [Dale] Melden and Firefighter [Francisco] Martinez performed a rapid primary search and removed the male occupant from the living room couch to a safe area outside of the home. Without the aggressive actions of these two firefighters, the outcome of this incident could have been much more tragic,” said Fire Chief Robert Talloni.

Crews kept the fire from igniting the kitchen by removing the charred food from the stove and opened up portions of the home to ventilate the smoke.

Turlock Fire Department responded with three engines, one ladder truck, one battalion chief and Chief of the Department for a total of 15 personnel on scene. Ceres Fire Department provided mutual aid assistance.