Woman found dead in mobile home fire

Firefighters say the cluttered dwelling in Chatsworth lacked a working smoke alarm.

Firefighters found a woman’s body at the scene of a mobile home fire Tuesday evening in Chatsworth, prompting a search for the home’s other occupants and an investigation into the blaze.

Units were called at 5:31 p.m. to 20652 W. Lassen St. and found flames coming from a mobile home, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Crews knocked down the fire in 26 minutes and found the home packed with items in what they described as “excessive storage conditions.” Firefighters found the body while searching through “at least four feet of debris,” the Fire Department said. The woman was declared dead at the scene.

Capt. Erik Scott, a department spokesman, described the victim as an elderly woman and said she was found in a bathroom.

In addition to the challenges posed by the amount of debris inside the home, there was no functioning smoke alarm, Scott said.

Crews got reports that two more people who were living in the home might have left; they remained unaccounted for Tuesday night.

Firefighters continued to search the home.

Arson investigators responded to the site, per department protocol in fatal fires.