Mendocino County sisters, 10 and 14, who died in house fire identified

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday confirmed the identities of two young sisters who died in a Manchester house fire last week.

Saira Vanessa Cazares, 14, and Alexia Anaihi Cazares, 10, died Dec. 13 in the early-morning fire at a home on Biaggi Lane, off Highway 1 along the Mendocino County coast, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The names were released after the Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Division on Monday identified their remains.

Firefighters were summoned to the home after 1:40 a.m. when the father of the family residing at the nearly 150-year old, two-story ranch home awoke to the sound of smoke alarms and discovered the house was filled with smoke and was ablaze. He alerted other family members who were sleeping, and some were able to get to safety. But once outside, the family realized the two sisters were missing and likely still inside the house, which was engulfed in flames, officials said. The girls’ bodies were recovered by investigators the same day.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Capt. Greg Van Patten.