Authorities were investigating a body discovered near a Northridge middle school after firefighters extinguished a blaze Monday morning, officials said.
Firefighters received the call of a rubbish fire just before 7 a.m. in the 19300 block of Lassen Street, according to Katherine Main of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The body was located near Alfred Bernhard Nobel Middle School. No evacuations were in place at the school, but classes near the fire site were relocated on campus.
The body does not belong to a student of staff from the school, the principal said during a campuswide announcement over the school intercom.
Authorities had not identified the remains as of Monday afternoon. They said the body was burned so badly it was nearly unrecognizeable as human.
Authorities believe the victim was a male.
Sylvia Chinchilla, a private security guard working in the area, told NBC4 that she heard an explosive sound before the fire.
“It was kind of loud," Chinchilla said. "I thought it was maybe, like, something like gas or something caught on fire.”
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Los Angeles police were called to the scene, but details about the fire and remains were sketchy.
“The fire itself, we have no details on how it started or who may have started it," said Sgt, Barry Montgomery.
The investigation is ongoing.
Patrick Healy contributed to this report.
