A dog was among those found dead inside a Los Angeles home following a massive ammunition-fueled fire that broke out at the residence early Sunday morning, CBS News reports.
A man and a woman also perished in the deadly fire that occurred on Dec. 3. The Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD) received reports of the burning house located in the 13700 block of Glenoaks Boulevard, Sylmar, at around 4:40 a.m. Upon arrival, they found the main house and two more buildings behind it engulfed in heavy flames.
According to LAFD officials, firefighters had a hard time containing the blaze as numerous rounds of heavy ammunition kept exploding inside the home. This, in turn, intensified the fire.
Firefighters could hear ammunition going off rapidly as they battled the inferno, prompting them to think someone was firing at them.
LAFD’s captain, Erik Scott, stated the ammunition “was going off in such a pattern that they weren’t sure if it was being shot live from a gun, or if it was just ammunition that was stored that was getting heated, cooked off, and started to pop.”
It was after controlling the blaze that the crew discovered the bodies of the man and dog in the rubble. They found the woman’s body in a swimming pool on the property.
While investigators haven’t yet released the dog’s breed or the man’s identity to the public, they identified the deceased woman as 68-year-old Phyllis Ann Patterson.
Investigations into ammunition-fueled fire ongoing
LAPD’s Gangs and Narcotics divisions, the bomb squad, and the arson investigation unit are working together to determine how the fire started and the exact cause of the trio’s death.
Officials found several firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition at the scene, raising questions about whether one of the victims deliberately ignited the blaze. As of now, it’s not clear if the man and woman died as a result of the fire. This is because they both had gunshot wounds when rescuers retrieved their bodies.
One of the many neighbors who heard rapid popping sounds coming from the house when the fire broke out stated, “Automatic machine gun fire is what it sounded like.”
There were no reported injuries to the firefighters.
