Officials investigate fatal Santa Rosa fire

A Santa Rosa woman who succumbed to a fire in her home Wednesday night had been outside minutes earlier, battling the blaze with a garden hose, before she decided to go back inside the burning structure, possibly to rescue three beloved dogs, a fire investigator said Thursday.

Several witnesses reported seeing Esther Miller, 57, spraying water on the garage before handing the hose to a neighbor and disappearing in the commotion of the 7 p.m. fire near Melita Road, the investigator and others said.

Miller, who lived in the house with her mother, Alma Miller, 86, later was found unresponsive in the ground-floor bedroom where two Chihuahuas perished, Central Fire Authority Investigator Cyndi Foreman said. A large pit bull mix also died in the fire, she said.

Alma Miller suffered smoke inhalation and was treated at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital but was released Wednesday night in good condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.

On Thursday, the retired real estate agent was back at the scene in the company of another daughter and other relatives as investigators combed through the charred wreckage of the house she called home for some 40 years. Family members declined to be interviewed.

As the fire was fought, Esther Miller was located in her mother’s bedroom and pulled outside, where emergency personnel attempted to resuscitate her without success. She was transported to Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 8:12 p.m.

Results of an autopsy conducted Thursday were being withheld pending toxicology reports, coroner’s personnel said.

Fire personnel said she did not appear to have suffered any burns.

“The real tragedy here is that the victim actually made it out, but she went back in,” Foreman said Thursday.

The cause of the fire, which started in the garage, remained undetermined Thursday.

Foreman said investigators were unable to rule out the possibility that the fire was ignited by a propane torch Esther Miller was seen using around the property to eliminate weeds about two hours before the fire was reported. Fire investigators later recovered the torch from the garage.

Other possibilities included discarded smoking material and an electrical fire, Foreman said.

“We are not able to isolate the exact cause,” she said.

The Millers’ rural five-bedroom, two-story home had a street address of Sonoma Highway but is located up a narrow gravel drive that runs between Highway 12 and Melita Road.

The home had no working smoke alarms, which may have allowed the fire to spread before anyone was aware, Foreman said.

Neighbors include two brothers who rent a cottage near Melita Road from Alma Miller and who reportedly were alerted to the blaze by Esther Miller, who ran over and asked them to call for help before grabbing the garden hose and turning her attention to the engulfed garage, neighbor Michael Sawyer said.

Sawyer said he became aware of the fire when he heard Alma Miller outside, calling for help and banging on a fence between their homes. Alma Miller told a reporter Wednesday night she had come outside after smelling smoke.

But as firefighters and other neighbors converged, she never mentioned her daughter, Sawyer said, until he asked about Esther Miller and the two realized her car was nearby. It wasn’t clear to investigators or neighbors exactly why the woman had gone back inside. They assumed it was to rescue the dogs.

She was found by firefighters, who wheeled her from the house on a gurney about 45 minutes after someone first called 911.

The two smaller dogs were found in the same bedroom room after daylight Thursday, Foreman said.

Firefighter were hampered by confusion about the house address and access up the narrow drive, she said. Responding Rincon Valley and Santa Rosa fire engines had to remain below on Melita Drive, and firefighters dragged hoses up the hill.

The 1920s-era house was a total loss, with significant fire and smoke damage throughout.

Foreman said insurance representatives were helping Alma Miller on Thursday, and “she’s got family, so she’ll be well cared for.”

But she urged homeowners to ensure they have working smoke alarms and to focus, in the event of a house fire, on getting out of a structure and staying out.

“We never want people to go back in,” Foreman said. “Wait till we get there. Let us go back in.”

Staff Writers Martin ?Espinoza and Julie Johnson contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter ?@MaryCallahanB.