Fatal Lucerne fire ruled accidental

<p>A deadly fire Monday morning near the shores of Clear Lake was accidental, Lake County officials said.</p><p>Harry Jon Waner, 58, of Lucerne, is believed to have perished in the fire but there has been no positive identification of the remains found inside the mobile home.</p><p>Autopsy results have tentatively listed the cause of the trailer occupant’s death as smoke inhalation, Sheriff’s Capt. James Bauman reported Wednesday.</p><p>There were no signs an accelerant contributed to the fire and a conclusion on exact cause of the fire is pending, Bauman said.</p><p>But it appears the occupant fell asleep in an overstuffed chair while smoking a cigarette, said Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jim Robbins.</p><p>“That was the most incinerated area,” he said.</p><p>The victim probably woke up and tried to escape but was trapped by flames, Robbins said.</p><p>The fire broke out at about 4:50 a.m. Monday. Neighbors could hear a man they believe was Waner calling for help and went to his aid but the flames, which quickly engulfed the residence, kept them from entering.</p><p>Seven minutes after neighbor Marissa Motley spotted the fire while getting ready for work, the roof had fallen in, she said.</p><p>Northshore Fire Protection District investigator Chris Vallerga said older single-wide mobile homes such as Waner’s burn quickly. “They call them 60-second trailers,” he said Tuesday as he sifted through the trailer’s melted remains.</p><p>The interior walls of older trailers are made with pressed wood. The sheet rock walls used in newer mobile homes can provide 15- to 20 minutes of fire protection, Vallerga said.</p><p>Robbins said Waner’s home, which he rented, probably dated from the 1960s.</p><p>There are a many such mobile homes in Lake County, Robbins said. Many initially were bought as vacation homes but are now low-income rentals, he said.</p><p>The fire at Waner’s home initially was deemed suspicious in origin. Waner and his wife had a volatile relationship and she had been at his home the night before, a violation of a domestic violence restraining order, officials said.</p><p>Sandra Jean Bronson, 53, was arrested Monday on restraining order issued and held on $250,000 bail pending the outcome of the fire investigation.</p><p>She remained in jail on Wednesday, Bauman said.</p>