The Florida state fire marshal is investigating the death of a Jonesville, Florida, woman who died Monday after her apartment caught fire.
At about 5:30 p.m. Monday, Alachua County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the fire in the 300 block of SW 145th Drive after a neighbor noticed the flames and dialed 911, said Harold Theus, the deputy chief with the Alachua County Fire Rescue.
Arriving minutes before ACFR, sheriff’s deputies found 62-year-old Dawn Stephens Mendoza unresponsive in a hallway near the back of her single-story apartment, he said.
They pulled Mendoza out and performed CPR on her for several minutes until ACFR arrived, Theus said. She was then taken to North Florida Regional Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.
It’s unknown how long the fire burned, he said. During the blaze, a hot-water heater ruptured, extinguishing the bottom of the fire, which kept the flame from spreading.
“Here you had a fire that just sort of sat in the smoldering phase for a long time,” Theus said.
The fire marshal’s office is now investigating the cause of the fire, he said.
