The woman who died last week in a Santa Maria apartment fire has been identified as Marlene Joy Silva, according to the Santa Maria Police Department.
Personnel from the Santa Maria Fire Department and police officers responded to the Amara Apartments on West Carmen Lane at approximately 12:40 p.m. Friday for a report of a structure fire.
Firefighters found Silva, 65, dead in her bed inside the apartment.
Her cause of death appeared to be smoke inhalation due to the fire, police said.
The studio apartment had moderate fire damage plus smoke damage, but the fire did not extend to adjacent units.
Investigators with the Santa Maria Fire Department were continuing their work to determine the cause of the fire, Fire Marshal Darrell Delgado said Wednesday.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.