Lack of smoke detectors ‘factor’ in deadly Monte Sereno house fire, says Santa Clara Co. fire chief
New details in fatal Monte Sereno house fire
Santa Clara County fire authorities on Thursday said a blaze at a Monte Sereno home that killed two people may have had a different outcome if the house had been equipped with smoke detectors.
MONTE SERENO, Calif. - Santa Clara County fire authorities on Thursday said a blaze at a Monte Sereno home that killed two people may have had a different outcome if the house had been equipped with smoke detectors.
Deadly fire in the early morning
The backstory:
Santa Clara County Fire Department units were called about 2 a.m. on Wednesday to the two-story home located in the 17000 block of Rose Court on reports of a fire, the department told KTVU.
"Immediately, crews were faced with fire that was burning through the roof of a two-story building to the rear of the property, along with fire coming out of the windows of that structure" said SCCFD Assistant Chief of Operations Bill Murphy. "Due to the orientation of the property and the amount of materials that were stored, it took firefighters some time to make access to the rear of the property."
Murphy said firefighters found and rescued two people from inside the back property within about 15 minutes of receiving the first call.
Murphy said that while the excessive storage inside a garage attached to the home did not hamper firefighting efforts, it did pose "a little bit of a challenge" for rescuers attempting to remove the two people from the back property.
The victims were taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead of unspecified injuries.
Home had no smoke detectors
Dig deeper:
SCCFD Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Davis at a Thursday press conference said the fire started accidentally in the property’s kitchen, either as a result of unattended cooking or a failure related to the stove or microwave.
Davis added the property was not equipped with smoke detectors, which "was a factor" in the occupants’ deaths given they were located in the bedroom, which would have necessitated evacuation through a living room that was attached to the burning kitchen.
"It is our belief that if there were smoke detectors, it would have allowed for early notification for the decedents, which would have given them an opportunity to get out," Davis said.
The identities of the two people killed in the fire were withheld pending notification of their next of kin.
The Source: Information for this story came from the Santa Clara County Fire Department and from previous KTVU reporting.