A man was found dead after crews extinguished a garage fire at a home in Sunland Monday afternoon, officials said.
Firefighters originally responded to an electrocution reported around 2 p.m. in a townhouse community on the 8700 block of Wyngate Street, said Capt. Branden Silverman with the Los Angeles Fire Department.
Neighbor Pam Galdos said she was working at her desk when she heard a “pop.”
“I thought it was the garbage truck — sometimes they drop the can,” she said. “Then my neighbor knocked on my front door and said there was a big fire right down the street, a few units away.”
Galdos said she went out and saw flames “all over, shooting out the front of the garage, shooting out the roof of the garage.”
It took firefighters about 20 minutes to put out the blaze, Silverman said.
Crews searching the charred scene found the man dead inside. He’s believed to be about 40 years old, LAFD said.
A second patient, a male around 16 years old, was hospitalized in fair condition, fire officials said.
Galdos described the residents of the unit involved as renters who moved in recently.
The fire caused “significant damage” to the attached garage, but the neighboring townhomes and garages were protected, according to Silverman.
Investigators are now working to determine the fire’s cause.