The Associated Press
HAPPY VALLEY, Calif. — Six family members, including at least one teenager, were killed when a pre-dawn fire almost destroyed a house Tuesday in the Shasta County community of Happy Valley.
Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Compomizzo said investigators believe arson may have caused the blaze because of “how fast it started, the potential of flammable liquids, as well as the condition of the victims.”
“It’s definitely suspicious,” Compomizzo said.
Firefighters were called to the single-story, four-bedroom home on Le Conge Drive at 4:45 a.m. Compomizzo said bodies were found throughout the residence.
Some of the victims were burned so severely that dental records and DNA will have to be used to confirm their identities, Compomizzo said. Authorities believe their ages range from 13 to 60s.
Jeffrey Crow, a newspaper carrier for the Record Searchlight of Redding, said he came upon the blaze while on his route and heard screams coming from inside the home. He told the newspaper that the heat and flames were too intense to try going inside.
Investigators were questioning a seventh resident of the house, who told them he left for work before the blaze began.
“He was the last person at the residence that we know of, so in that sense he’s definitely a person of interest,” Compomizzo said late Tuesday. “But he’s not a suspect. He has not been booked.”