A house fire in Stanislaus County, California, has left one person dead, and investigators now believe the blaze was intentionally set. Authorities are treating the fatal fire as a case of suspected arson as they work to determine exactly what happened at the home.
Neighbors described a frightening scene as the fire took hold. Some people who live nearby said the smoke reached them before they even saw the flames. One resident said they turned off their air conditioning because the smell of smoke was coming into the house.
The fire took time to bring under control. According to accounts from the scene, it felt like a long stretch before crews knocked down the large flames, with the blaze brought under full control within about 45 minutes to an hour.
When the fire was out, one person was found dead inside the home, according to authorities. The death has become the focus of the investigation as officials try to piece together the sequence of events that led to the deadly fire.
The Stanislaus Regional Fire Investigation Unit says investigators believe the fire was arson. That assessment has pushed the case toward a criminal investigation, even as many of the key details have not yet been released to the public.
As of Tuesday, the identity of the victim and the cause of the fire were still unknown, officials said. For the people who live nearby, that means they are still waiting to learn who died inside the home they watched burn.