A woman in her 60s died and a 39-year-old woman was hospitalized following a garage fire Wednesday night at a Pacoima home.
The fire was reported at about 10:30 p.m. in the 13000 block of Gager Street in the San Fernando Valley communuity. Firefighters arrived to see flames shooting from the roof of a detached garage at the rear of the property near Laurel Canyon Boulevard.
They opened the front of the garage to fight the fire, which was knocked down in about 20 minutes. Flames and smoke could be seen from the nearby freeway.
A woman was found dead inside the garage, which appeared to be a dwelling space. The 39-year-old woman with special needs was hospitalized in critical condition.
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The garage did not have smoke detectors.
"At this time, there's no evidence of any functioning smoke alarms," said Capt. Cody Weireter, public information officer with the Los Angeles Fire Department. "We truly urge our neighbors about the importance and the life-saving measures of having functioning smoke alarms inside your home."
Details about how the fire started were not immediately available.
