Mike Brown was in his bedroom May 27 in suburban Cleveland packing for a flight when he heard the frantic screams of his 19-year-old son, Cameron.
“Dad! It’s on fire!”
Brown raced downstairs to the kitchen, where he found flames shooting from the pan Cameron was using to make mini fried pecan pies. The longtime NBA coach told Cameron to stand back, grabbed a dishcloth and lifted the pan’s handle.
Cooking oil, the source of the fire, spilled to the floor. Brown slipped and fell onto the rising flames. As he writhed, the fire stopped.
Brown’s body had suffocated the blaze, but the damage was done.