Two older adults died early Wednesday, Oct. 7, after a fire tore through their two-story home in Monte Sereno, the small hillside town next to Los Gatos, according to the Santa Clara County Fire Department.
The call came in at 2:04 a.m., and crews reached the house in the 17000 block of Rose Court, near Rose Drive, a few minutes later, the Los Gatan reported. Flames were already coming through the roof.
A difficult rescue
The fire department told CBS San Francisco that getting into the home was challenging. Once inside, firefighters made a quick search and found the two residents, both described as older adults, and brought them out. A second alarm was called, bringing about 40 firefighters and 10 fire engines and other apparatus to the scene, NBC Bay Area reported.
Both people were taken by ambulance to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where they died from their injuries. As of Wednesday evening, officials had not released their names. KTVU reported that neighbors went door to door overnight warning others on the street about the fire.
"This is a tragic outcome and we extend our deepest sympathy to the victims' family," the fire department said in a statement quoted by CBS.
Cause still unknown
Investigators from the county fire department, working with a countywide fire investigation task force, are trying to determine how the fire started. No cause had been announced.
The timing stung local leaders. Hours before the fire, the department had given the Monte Sereno City Council a routine report on its work, noting the town had seen only one fire in the last fiscal year. Mayor Lon Allan told the Los Gatan that the house was engulfed about eight hours after that presentation and called it "an absolute tragedy."
A reminder during Fire Prevention Week
The deaths came during national Fire Prevention Week, which runs Oct. 4 to 10. While stressing that the investigation was at an early stage, the fire department urged residents to keep working smoke alarms in every room, saying the alarms give people inside critical extra minutes to escape, according to KTVU.
Fire officials also commonly advise sleeping with bedroom doors closed to slow the spread of smoke, practicing an escape plan, and charging phones, e-bikes and other lithium-ion devices on hard surfaces rather than on beds or couches.