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Tag: house fire

  • ATF offers $5k reward for info on deadly Citrus Heights house fire

    ATF announces reward for anyone with information leading to suspects involved in deadly June 7 house fire. // ATF San Francisco Field Division

    By Sara Beth Williams–
    The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced it is offering an award of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for setting fire to a home in Citrus Heights.

    After responding to a house fire on Oak Grove Avenue on June 7, 2024, fire officials discovered a deceased individual inside, who was later identified as 61-year-old George Benson. Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials confirmed the fire is being investigated as arson. The Citrus Heights Police Department called the death “suspicious” and recently released a photo of a vehicle of interest in the case in an Aug. 15 social media post.

    According to a press release from the ATF San Francisco Field Division, the vehicle of interest is a 2002-2006 blue Toyota Camry with “oxidation” on the roof and 5-spoke chrome rims. The vehicle doesn’t have tinted windows or a sun or moon roof and no license plate information is available, the release said.

    Anyone with information regarding the vehicle in question or the June 7 incident is being asked to contact ATF via phone or email at ATFtips@atf.org or www.reportit.com. Calls and tips can remain anonymous.

    The Citrus Heights Police Department, in conjunction with ATF, is continuing to investigate the case.

  • Early morning fire rips through Citrus Heights home

    More than 25 fire personnel along with six fire trucks from four different stations responded early Tuesday morning to a blaze that caused “extensive damage” to a Citrus Heights home.

    Fire_house_Ziebell_after_DSC_0370
    Two firemen from Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District look towards a Citrus Heights home that caught fire early Tuesday morning. // Citrus Heights Sentinel

    “I was in the kitchen making coffee and smelled smoke in the back of the bedroom,” said 55-year-old resident Mark Wheeler, who lives alone in the home on Ziebell Court. “I saw [things] catching on fire, so I grabbed my keys and got out of there.”

    Wheeler sat outside in his van talking with several neighbors who were out watching fire crews clean up the scene on the dead-end street near Old Auburn Road and Fair Oaks Boulevard.

    “I just heard a boom, and my German Shepherds went nuts,” said neighbor Grant Millhouse, who said his wife told him the house next door was on fire. “If they hadn’t come, my house probably would have been on fire too.”

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    Sacramento Metropolitan Fire Battalion Chief Chris Siler said the blaze caused extensive damage to the garage, attic and interior of the home — although no animals or people were injured.

    Firefighters began “initiating fire attack” around 6:20 a.m., according to a Tweet from Metro Fire’s Public Information Office, and had the blaze contained by 6:45 a.m. Investigators later determined the cause of fire was “electrical in nature.”