Jan. 11--The bodies of two people were discovered inside a burning home in Palo Alto on Friday, police said.
The one-alarm fire at 988 Embarcadero Road was reported at about 7:15 p.m., said Lt. Zach Perron of the Palo Alto Police Department.
Firefighters discovered the bodies during the fire, Perron said. One was removed from the home as crews worked to extinguish the flames. The other remained inside the scorched structure Friday.
Perron was unable to provide any information about the victims, including their names and ages, or where they were found inside the home. He said the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office will release the identities, as well as causes of death.
"I think it's safe to say they were residents of the home," Perron said.
Firefighters said they believed the blaze began in the kitchen but were still working to confirm the origin, Perron said. The fire is being jointly investigated by the police and fire departments.
The Santa Clara County Joint Arson Investigation Task Force is expected to join the probe this morning, Perron said.
"That is a routine step anytime there's a body discovered inside a home that's been burned," he said.
"The mere fact that we're having the arson task force come help with the investigation doesn't indicate that we believe it is arson. They're the expert in determining cause and origin and we're going to work collaboratively with them to figure out where the fire started and how."
Perron added that police are not seeking any suspects.
It took firefighters about 20 minutes to completely extinguish the blaze, Perron said. No other homes were damaged.
Robert Hof, who lives at a home behind the one that caught fire, said the fire grew very quickly.
"It couldn't have been more than 10 minutes," he said. "We were cooking, with a window facing the house where we would have seen any flames at all, then we went and sat down and a neighbor came over to tell us it was burning."
He said at that point, 10- to 15-foot flames were coming out of a kitchen window of the home.
Hof said he knew of only one person who lived at the home, who he described as a man in his 50s.
Perron said the home was severely damaged. The 1,300-square-foot home was built in 1949, according to property records.
Embarcadero Road was shut down between Greer Road and Morton Street as a result of the fire and subsequent investigation. Perron said he expected the roadway to reopen this morning.
Bay Area News Group Staff Writer Eric Kurhi contributed to this report.
Email Jason Green at [email protected]; follow him at twitter.com/jgreendailynews.
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