PHOTO CREDIT: Sacramento Metro firefighters assist the coroner as they look at the victims of a fatal fire in Stephen Drive. Andy Alfaro, Sacramento Bee.
The Sacramento County Coroner said the victims of an overnight fatal fire in North Highlands are a 37-year-old woman and an 8-year-old boy.
Coroner's deputies listed the victims as Laura Fernandez of North Highlands and Wilfred Villarruel of North Highlands.
It was unclear whether the two were related but Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum said last night that they could be mother and son.
Fire crews received word at 8:02 p.m. about the house fire at 4061 block of Stephen Drive. When the first engine company arrived, they found found the home's garage fully engulfed by flames.
Flames were licking from the garage and threatening to spread to a house next door. The first crews also reported hearing explosions from the garage.
Crews began attacking the fire, but had a difficult time entering the home, partly due to the intensity of the blaze, according to one fire official. When they did gain entry, firefighters found the two victims.
Sac Metro firefighter paramedics began treating Fernandez and Villarruel to no avail.
Fire officials said a family of five lived in the house and that the other three residents were not at home when the fire started. They were all accounted for by fire officials.
The cause of the fire had not been determined as of this morning by Sac Metro arson investigators.
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