Firefighters found a woman dead while battling a house fire in Lake View Terrace early Sunday.
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the 11500 block of Kismet Avenue after a neighbor called 911 about the fire around 3:40 a.m.
Firefighters arrived to find flames burning in the back of a one-story home.
Neighbors said two people might have been trapped inside, according to the Fire Department. Crews later determined that one of the occupants feared to be inside was safely staying in a recreational vehicle nearby. However, the man told them that his elderly mother was likely in the house.
Firefighters searched the 1,256-square-foot residence, which was excessively filled with personal storage, according to the Fire Department.
“As firefighters pushed back the last of the flames, they discovered a woman without vital signs of life,” LAFD said in a statement. “Sadly beyond medical help, her death was determined at the scene.”
The department reported no other injuries in the incident.
Crews extinguished the blaze in just over 30 minutes. LAFD said they didn’t find any working smoke alarms in the 62-year-old structure, as required by law.
The L.A. County coroner will identify the woman as well as her cause, time and manner of death, the Fire Department said.
