Elderly man in critical condition after North Sacramento house fire Monday night

Three people were hospitalized and one remains in critical condition Tuesday after a residential fire broke out Monday night in East Del Paso Heights.

Sacramento Fire Department personnel responded to a call around 10:45 from a corner home on the 3600 block of Willow Street, spokesman Capt. Keith Wade said. The house had been occupied by a man, his wife and her son, who ranged in age from their late 60s to early 80s, Wade said.

The man had lived in the house for about 40 years and gradually tacked on shanty-like structures unlikely to meet city code, Wade said, such as a second-floor room only accessible via outside ladder. Those additions and general clutter around the property kept firefighters at work until about 1:30 a.m., he said.

“They had so much material not just throughout the home but in the yard itself,” Wade said. “Once there is a fire, that stuff is just a huge fuel load. You can imagine being in a hoarding home trying to maneuver around the hose and trying to walk – it’s hard to walk in a normal situation, then you have stuff falling down on fire.”

The woman and her son had minor smoke inhalation, Wade said.

The home is likely destroyed, Wade said. Investigators probably won’t be able to pinpoint the fire’s cause, but it appeared to be accidental, he said.