SAN DIEGO (CBS 8/CNS) - Firefighters extinguishing a blaze that destroyed a heavily cluttered Mission Hills home Tuesday found the bodies of two people inside the gutted structure.
Flames began spreading through the house in the 1700 block of Fort Stockton Drive for unknown reasons about 5 a.m., according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department.
It took crews just under an hour to get the blaze under control, after which they discovered the unidentified victims.
"The high amount of items inside the home made the fire burn very quickly and very hot, which made it difficult for crews to extinguish,'' SDFRD spokeswoman Monica Munoz said.
Neighbors told CBS News 8 that a bedridden woman and her adult daughter lived in the home and that they were hoarders who preferred to be left alone. According to them, the daughter's name was Persephone Longueuiel.
A passer-by watching the firefighting operation tripped and hurt himself slightly, Munoz said. Medics treated and released him at the scene.
The estimated monetary losses were set at $250,000 to the structure and $20,000 to contents.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.