1 dead after fire destroys mobile home near Graton

A man died in a mobile home fire Thursday evening in an unincorporated part of Sebastopol.

Authorities received multiple calls about 5:30 p.m. regarding a fire on Cuneo Court, a short road off of Laguna Road north of Sebastopol, said Ian Muskar, an engineer for the Graton Fire Department. The home was in the Graton fire protection district.

When firefighters arrived, they discovered a mobile home that was engulfed in flames, and saw that the fire had started to spread to some nearby vegetation. As they began combating the fire, they received word there was possibly someone in the mobile home, Muskar said.

Although firefighters immediately began to search inside the structure, they were unable to rescue the victim.

“The trailer was well over 75% involved with heavy fire,” Muskar said. “Unfortunately … there was no chance of survivability in those conditions.”

Firefighters contained the fire within 20 minutes, Muskar said. The trailer was on the property of a single-family home, but the fire did not spread beyond the mobile home and some nearby vegetation.

The victim, who has not yet been identified, was found in the bedroom of the home. This marks the first fatal fire in the district since 2007.

The victim and his significant other, who was not home at the time of the fire, lived in the trailer together. Muskar said the woman will be staying with family and friends, as the trailer was destroyed.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Muskar said it appears to have originated in the kitchen area of the mobile home. He added that the cause of the fire does not seem suspicious at this point in the investigation.

Engines from Occidental, Forestville, Gold Ridge, Sonoma County, Sebastopol and Cal Fire assisted the Graton Fire Protection District.

You can reach Staff Writer Chantelle Lee at 707-521-5337 or chantelle.lee@pressdemocrat.com.