Elderly Pasadena woman killed in house fire identified

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PASADENA >> Coroner’s investigators have identified an elderly woman who died in a fire at her Pasadena home in late November.
Sandra Bassler, 80, was found dead shortly after 8 a.m. on Nov. 25 inside her burning home in the 300 block of Redwood Drive, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
Though Bassler was the home’s lone resident and has been unaccounted for since the fire, official identification was delayed to the badly burned condition of the remains. Her cause of death remained under investigation.
Neighbors called 911 to report the fire, a neighbor suffered burns as he twice attempted to rescue the elderly woman from the home, but was driven back by a “wall of fire,” Pasadena Fire Department Chief Bertral Washington said at the time.
Firefighters found Bassler and pronounced her dead at the scene, officials said.
Investigators noted multiple possible causes of the fire, but had not isolated a specific cause, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
Overloaded wiring, excessive use of power cords and strips, an electric space heater, an electric blanket, candles and smoking materials were all found inside the room where the fire started, she said.

PHOTO by Walt Mancini

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