LOS ANGELES (KNX) — Los Angeles firefighters discovered a body after putting out a house fire that erupted late Monday night in the Highland Park area.
The blaze was reported at a single-story home in the 200 block of South Avenue 52 at around 11 p.m., according to the L.A. Fire Department.
A passerby first spotted the flames and attempted to enter the property. He was able to open a door, but was not able to proceed inside.
“The smoke was so dense … I would have died if I breathed it,” Kylar Loya told KTLA.
Fire crews were able to successfully defend three neigboring homes from being engulfed by flames, but it took about 30 firefighters 40 minutes to ultimatelyput the blaze out.
Once crews enter the home, they located the body of one person who died in the fire, a LAFD spokesperon said. There, they found the victim, 29-year-old Mark Olmedo, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
It was not known on Tuesday whether the home was properly equipped with smoke detectors.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.
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