Johnstonville area residents were startled by a series of explosions Sunday morning, and investigators from the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office are looking for both the cause of the detonations and the identity of a person whose body was discovered in the burning garage.
According to a report from the LCSO, deputies responded to a structure fire on Highway 395 in Johnstonville after callers reported hearing multiple explosions, arriving to find that a detached garage was fully-engulfed with fire.
“The sole occupant of the house met with deputies in the driveway,” explained LCSO Sergeant Dustin Russell. “Deputies were told there may have been someone inside of the garage.”
Fire personnel arrived shortly after the deputies, but nobody was able to access the garage because of the extreme heat of the structure fire.
Firefighters aggressively fought the fire as it began to spread to trees and the home on the property, and were successful in stopping the extension of the fire into the surrounding area.
“After the fire was extinguished, a deceased person was found inside of the garage. Deputies secured the scene and requested an arson and bomb investigator from the State Fire Marshal’s Office as well as the Butte County Bomb Squad.”
According to Russell, those investigators later arrived and assisted the deputies in processing the scene. The remains were sent to the Washoe County Regional Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.
The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Lassen County Sheriff’s Office at (530) 257-6121 with information.