The state fire marshal’s office is investigating a fire that killed one person, along with two pets, and gutted a northwest Palm Bay home on Tuesday, Aug. 19.
The unidentified woman was found in a burned-out bedroom in the wood frame structure. The fire began about 2 p.m. at the three-bedroom, single-story home on Furth Road, Palm Bay Fire Rescue officials reported.
“We do not know the cause right now,” said Assistant Battalion Fire Chief John Ringleb of the blaze.
Palm Bay firefighters arrived on the scene within minutes and began combating the fire, which spread along the back of the home. Minutes later, firefighters searched through the home and found the woman’s body in the soot- and ash-overed room where the blaze was concentrated, Ringleb reported. Firefigthers also found the remains of a dog and a cat. Two other people who were in the home managed to get out, Ringleb said.
Firegighters from Palm Bay Fire Rescue were assisted by Palm Bay Police Department and Brevard County Fire Rescue. The Palm Bay department’s Peer Support Team provided assistance to responders and family members, Ringleb said, and the department’s Chaplain Team, along with the American Red Cross, also responded to support those affected,
Police cordoned off the home as forensic investigators searched through the charred rooms of the home. The state fire marshal’s office is working to determine the origin and circumstances of the fire, in coordination with the Palm Bay Police Department crime scene unit.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, or Twitter: @JDGallop.
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Fire Rescue officials: Woman, 2 animals die as blaze guts northwest Palm Bay home
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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