Woman dies in fire at cluttered Santa Rosa home

A Santa Rosa woman was found dead in her 11th Street home Saturday night after firefighters responded to a blaze at the address.

Firefighters were called out for a report of smoke and a glow from the backyard around 9:20 p.m. They found heavy smoke billowing from the first story of the old, two-story Victorian, Battalion Chief Mark Basque said.

An elderly, single woman was believed to be the only person living in the house. Her son, who arrived at the fire moments later, said he believed she was home at the time, pointing to her car parked in the driveway.

Firefighters began searching for her, but large numbers of personal belongings stacked 2 to 6 feet high blocked doors and windows on the first and second floors and made access to portions of the home difficult, Basque said. They had to crawl over the piles of clothes, blankets, books and other items to get inside, he said.

Firefighters were able to quickly control the flames once they got inside, he said. It appeared they had been smoldering for “some time” before the department was notified, he said. Fire had eaten away at joists and the ceiling of the first floor, which in addition to the dense piles of belongings, created what he called “big safety considerations” for the firefighters.

After a lengthy search, they found the woman’s body under debris near the stove in the kitchen, the same area the fire is believed to have started.

Medics declared her dead at the scene, but it’s not yet clear if she died from a medical emergency or as a result of the blaze, Basque said. He estimated her to be in her late 70s. He did not provide her name pending notification of next of kin.

The broken windows and doors of the large pink house were boarded up Sunday afternoon, and numerous items that firefighters had moved from the porch in order to gain access littered the front lawn.

The woman who lived there loved to garden in that area, said Fritz Wisor, a nearby neighbor.

“It’s a shame,” he said of her death, standing near the home on Sunday. “She was a nice lady, she did a lot of gardening. That giant row of roses in front, in June, when they bloomed, it was impressive.”

Lyndsey Burns, who lives across the street, said the woman would come by regularly to give them plums and tomatoes from her garden. Many people in the neighborhood knew her, she said, though she didn’t know of any who’d been inside her house.

“She was really sweet,” she said.

She went out of her way to greet people, Wisor recalled.

“Every day I’d get out of the truck after work and she’d wave and say, ‘Hi Fritz,’” he said.

The fire’s cause appears accidental, Basque said, but officials are investigating further.

“Due to the physical condition of the area, it’s been really difficult for the investigator to pinpoint the exact cause,” he said.

Santa Rosa police were also called in to investigate, but Lt. John Snetsinger said Sunday morning “it doesn’t appear there was any crime associated with the incident. She may have had a medical condition and the fire started afterwards.”

Basque estimated the damage to the structure at between $50,000 and $70,000.

You can reach Staff Writer Jamie Hansen at 521-5205 or jamie.hansen@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jamiehansen.