Woman found dead in Pacific Palisades townhouse fire

PACIFIC PALISADES, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A 50-year-old woman was found dead in the bedroom of a Pacific Palisades townhome as firefighters responded to a blaze that erupted in the house.

Shortly before 4 a.m., fire crews headed to the 17100 block of W. Palisades Court over reports of a house fire with people trapped inside. When fire crews arrived, they found smoke coming out of an upstairs window toward the back of the home.

Authorities said the fire was contained to the one bedroom and a hallway upstairs until they extinguished it about half an hour later.

During the search through the heavily burned room, they found a 50-year-old woman's body.

Authorities said the three-bedroom townhouse contained smoke alarms, but there were indications that the alarm in the room where the woman was found and where the fire started had been disconnected.

Another woman, who firefighters said is 70 years old, was in the home and able to escape. A smoke alarm had alerted her of the fire and she tried to fight it with an extinguisher before firefighters had arrived.

The woman was found downstairs, firefighters said, and she was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation. She was listed in serious condition.

The identity of the deceased woman and cause of death would be determined by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

It was also unclear of the relationship between the two women.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.