SANTA PAULA : Fatal Fire Tied to Papers, Car Exhaust

A fire that killed an 82-year-old Santa Paula woman in her garage started when the exhaust on the woman’s car ignited a pile of old newspapers, tax returns and receipts, authorities said Thursday.

Eviza Christina Blackshear apparently was trying to drive her car out of the garage Wednesday afternoon when she passed out against the steering wheel because of smoke inhalation, Santa Paula Fire Capt. John Harbar said.

The key was in the ignition and the car’s gear was in park. The driver’s window was rolled partway down.

Harbar said the fire began while Blackshear was in her house, letting her car’s battery recharge in the garage.

She had called her automobile club to jump-start the battery a short time earlier because she wanted to go to the supermarket.

Harbar estimated that the car ran for 10 to 15 minutes before the papers ignited and fire swept through the garage. Many of the papers appeared to be accounting ledgers and receipts from the small grocery store Blackshear owned and ran for 34 years, he said.

Blackshear had lived in Santa Paula since 1936.

Explosions and loud popping noises heard by witnesses were probably aerosol cans or tires bursting from the intense heat and flames, but had nothing to do with the origin of the fire, Harbar said.