The woman who died in an early morning house fire Feb. 16 was identified as Mary Stelma Ostrand, 68, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’‘s Department coroner said Thursday.
Ostrand was found in the home at 3918 Foothill Road when county firefighters and rescue personnel responded to the report of the fire at 3:16 a.m. Feb. 16.
Ostrand’s cause of death was not available Thursday, nor was the cause of the fire.
Fire crews reported smoke coming from the windows of the house when they arrived on scene. The blaze was controlled in an hour, and firefighters found no one else inside. A dog was rescued from the house and turned over to animal control.
“No smoke alarm was sounding when firefighters arrived, but we have now found a smoke alarm in the back of the home that is damaged from the fire and did not have a battery installed,” said fire Capt. Eli Iskow, a department spokesman.
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