Woman dies in Orangevale house fire that started in garage, Sacramento firefighters say

An elderly woman died in a house fire in Orangevale on Saturday night after it started in the garage and spread into the rest of the home, fire officials said.

Capt. Chris Vestal, a spokesman for the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District, said the woman was inside the Mangrove Court home when the fire started.

Metro Fire firefighters were called out to the home around 5:45 p.m., and managed to knock down the fire around 6:15 p.m.

Vestal said neighbors tried to get the woman out before firefighters arrived, but the fire was too much for them to handle and they couldn’t get to her.

“Conditions upon arrival were pretty extensive,” Vestal said. He estimated that about half of the house’s living space was burned and the garage was destroyed.

After extinguishing the blaze, investigators began looking into the fire but, because it was dark, couldn’t get a good sense of how or where it started. Vestal said it likely started in or near the garage before spreading inside. The cause has yet to be determined.

This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 12:26 PM.