Elderly man confirmed dead in SLO house fire

An elderly man died Tuesday in a house fire off Johnson Avenue in San Luis Obispo, officials said.

The fire was first reported at about 11:20 a.m. in the 3000 block of Bahia Court, according to witnesses and fire personnel.

Passers-by and neighbors alerted authorities to the fire after observing a plume of smoke coming from the house. Jake Sanchez, owner of Azteca Construction, said he and his crew members saw the smoke as they were driving by from another job.

They called 911 and surrounded the house, trying to see whether anyone was at home. Sanchez said they broke down the locked door and ran around the house yelling and opening windows, but they couldn’t see anyone.

“The smoke was too much,” he said. “If we had seen any sign of anyone in there, we would have gone in.” Sanchez and his workers remained on scene well after first responders arrived to help. They even moved fire hoses for the firefighters during the fight.

San Luis Obispo City Fire Chief Garret Olson said that by the time firefighters arrived at the house, it was “fully engulfed” and had likely been ablaze for some time before crews were alerted to the fire.

Olson said flames had spread to the attic by the time firefighters reached the scene. Crews had to cut a hole in the roof to access the fire, which spewed smoke throughout the neighborhood.

Angela Freberg, a neighbor, was home when the fire started. She said she heard a big bang and Sanchez and his crew members shouting. She said a 95-year-old man with limited mobility lived in the house with his son.

This story was originally published October 24, 2017 at 11:50 AM with the headline "Elderly man confirmed dead in SLO house fire."