1 dead in Petaluma house fire; police and fire agencies investigating

One person was killed early Sunday after fire broke out in a house off Saratoga Court, a cul-de-sac in Petaluma on the east side of Highway 101, according to authorities.

Investigators from three agencies, including the Petaluma Police Department, continued to work the scene for much of the day Sunday.

Authorities did not publicly identify the person who was killed. Their investigation, including into what caused the fire, was very much ongoing Sunday, Petaluma Fire Department Inspector Amy Segui said.

“Investigators will still be on scene for a while,” she added Sunday afternoon. Investigators from her agency were working with Petaluma Police Department detectives and investigators from the Sonoma County Fire Investigation Task Force, a joint agency brought in for complicated fires including those that involve fatalities.

The Petaluma Fire Department responded to Saratoga Court following a 911 call that came in just after 4:31 a.m, according to dispatchers at RedCom, Sonoma County’s dispatch center.

The flames largely stayed contained to one room and its contents at the residence in the suburban area northwest of Lucchesi Park, Segui said, and it never became a fully involved structure fire.

This residential fire was the second in as many days in Sonoma County. The first, a fully involved warehouse fire in Sonoma, taxed firefighting resources there, causing extensive damage and necessitating a response from 30 firefighters.

Investigators have ruled arson out in that case but continue to zero in on the cause, Schell-Vista Fire Chief Ray Mulas said Sunday morning.

First responders around Sonoma County have contended with sporadic fires over the past few weeks that have damaged or destroyed homes and warehouses, displacing residents and killing some.

Two people died in a house fire in Sebastopol on Jan. 28. That blaze was one of five structure fires that weekend, none of which were ruled to be connected.

You can reach Staff Writer Andrew Graham at 707-526-8667 or andrew.graham@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @AndrewGraham88.