An 85-year-old grandmother of Tongan descent was killed in an early-morning house fire Tuesday.
The San Mateo County coroner’s office identified her Tuesday evening as Susana Lolohea Tonga.
Mercury News reports there were no other reported injuries.
Firefighters responded to a call early Tuesday monring and found the flames consuming the front of the building and pouring from a front window.said San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department fire marshal Robert Marshall.
One of the occupants told firefigthers the family’s grandmother was believed to be inside.
“We then went into rescue mode and attempted to rescue a person in there,” Marshall said.
It took about 10 minutes to find Tonga, and despite CPR by firefighters, she was pronounced dead at the scene, he said.
Six of her family members displaced by the fire, all adults, are receiving help from the Red Cross, Marshall said.
Fire officials believe five people were living in the main house, with another two in an attached in-law unit, Marshall said.
The fire was knocked down about 15 minutes after firefighters arrived.
The cause remains under investigation.