LAKEPORT, Calif. – Firefighters battling a late-night house fire near Lakeport discovered a body as they were working on the interior of the structure.
The fire in the 3800 block of Highland Springs Road was dispatched just before 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to radio traffic.
Lakeport Fire Chief Ken Wells said firefighters arrived to find the roughly 900-square-foot stick-built home fully involved.
The home had an attached carport and a few outbuildings that also burned, Wells said.
“The house was destroyed,” he said.
Firefighters got the fire on the exterior of the residence controlled and went inside to continue their work. That's when they found the body, according to Wells.
He declined to say where exactly in the home the body was located. No identification has yet been made, he added.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office and Lake County Arson Task Force will be involved in the investigation, which Wells expected would start at daybreak Tuesday.
“My units are going to remain on scene until the investigation starts,” he said early Tuesday.
Radio reports indicated it was just before 11:45 p.m. when the fire was contained in the structures and wildland.
The tall oak trees around the home also caught fire, and Wells said it was a challenge to get the flames knocked out due to the trees' height.
Wells said Lakeport Fire had three engines and a water tender on scene, with an engine and a water tender from Kelseyville Fire and Northshore Fire also sending a water tender and an engine. Pacific Gas and Electric also responded.
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