Fatality Fire in Granada Hills | September 28, 2019
Channel: LAFD
Date: 2019-09-28

GRANADA HILLS - Early Saturday morning, a greater alarm structure fire destroyed a one-story home and killed one woman inside.

Just after 5 a.m. on September 28, 2019, firefighters found a one-story home engulfed in flames on the 10400 block of Densmore Ave. Excessive storage conditions, inside and out, impeded firefighter efforts to quickly access the burning structure. It took 72 firefighters 50 minutes to extinguish the blaze. Flames burned through the sub floor, all rooms of the home, and the length of the attic, causing a partial roof collapse. The heavy fire load, from excessive belongings, intensified the flames to the point that the radiant heat broke a window of the house next door. This house would have burned also, if it were not for the quick efforts of firefighters to defend it from continued heat exposure.

After an extensive interior search of the home, sadly, a 73-year-old female was found face down in the kitchen, beyond medical help. Fortunately, her 76-year-old husband made it out of the inferno unharmed by the time firefighters arrived. It is important to mention that there was no evidence of a functional smoke alarm that could have alerted this woman to the impending danger in time for her to evacuate the structure with her husband. The Mayor's Crisis Response Team and Red Cross responded to assist him in the hours and days after this tragedy. A Supplying Aid to Victims of Emergecy (SAVE) Card was donated to the man. The neighborhood will be canvased today to make sure others in the area receive smoke alarm education and smoke alarms to those in need.

The cause of the fire does not appear to be suspicious, but the investigation is ongoing.