1 person found dead after south Sacramento house fire; homicide detectives investigating
SACRAMENTO -- One person is dead after an early morning house fire in south Sacramento and now homicide detectives are investigating.
The fire broke out on Thursday morning, just after 3:45 a.m., on 26th Avenue and Del Norte Boulevard.
According to Sacramento Fire crews, they arrived to heavy flames at the front of the house and a fence that went across the front of the structure, which gave them difficulty accessing the house.
It took two hose lines to knock down the flames and when they did make it inside, they found one person.
Sacramento Fire Captain Justin Sylvia said, "Once they made access to the interior of this house, they did locate an adult male in the hallway. They were able to begin resuscitation efforts in which they were unsuccessful and the person was determined to be deceased on scene."
According to the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office, homicide detectives are now investigating the scene as the coroner believes the death may be suspicious.
The person appeared to have been shot, the sheriff's office later clarified. It also appears that the fire started from outside the home.
The sister of the person found dead spoke to CBS13 on Thursday and identified him as Mike Plog, 66.
Crews searched the rest of the house and determined that there was only one person at home at the time of the fire. Investigators noted that the home appeared to be a hoarder situation, which posed a challenge in getting to the victim.
The cause of the fire is unknown and an investigation is underway to determine the origin of the fire.