Sherry Blanchard Obituary, Death -Sherry Blanchard was an elderly woman who lived in the Tanglewood neighborhood west of Santa Maria. A house fire occurred there a month ago, and according to the Coroner’s Bureau of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department, Blanchard was the victim of the fire that caused her death. Blanchard’s age was 65 at the time.
An investigation into the fire that broke out in the afternoon of October 19 on the 3500 block of Rosales Street found that it was likely caused by the careless use of or disposal of smoking materials, according to Captain Scott Safechuck of the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, who led the investigation. The scene of the fire was the same as the one where the previous investigation took place.
Shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon, a fire with two alarms was reported, and when firefighters arrived on the scene, they discovered flames coming out the windows of a single-family home with a single level of living space. During the search that was being done of the building to determine if anyone was hiding inside, the crews came across Blanchard’s belongings that were still inside the house.
Raquel Zick, the Public Information Officer for the Sheriff’s Department, stated about a month ago that in order to determine the identity of the victim, DNA testing would be required. She also stated that the testing would take several weeks to complete.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends that people who smoke observe certain safety precautions, such as ensuring that their ashtrays are not placed too close to anything that has the potential to catch fire and selecting ashtrays that are both sturdy and deep. To lessen the likelihood of a fire starting, cigarette butts and ashes should first be buried under a layer of sand and then doused with water before being discarded.
