Grass Valley, Calif. December 19, 2016 – This afternoon at approximately 12:13 hours staff from the Grass Valley Fire Department with assistance from the Nevada County Consolidated Fire and Nevada City Fire responded to a residential structure fire reported at 100 block of Independence Court in Grass Valley. Grass Valley police officers also responded.
Responding Fire personnel located a single story residential structure with smoke showing from multiple areas of the residence. Firefighters encountered heavy smoke conditions on the main floor, not immediately locating the fire.
An illegal unpermitted living space was found in the basement of the home and determined to be the area from which the fire originated. The basement area was found to have a single ingress/egress access point from the rear exterior of the home.
A female was located within the basement area and removed by fire personnel. She was later declared deceased on the scene. A dog was also trapped in the basement area and was later found deceased. The fire appears to have started in the basement area.
A joint fire and police investigative team is on scene investigating the cause and circumstances surrounding the fire.
Foul play is not suspected; however, the investigation is continuing.