Woman Dies After a Fire at Her Oak View Home

An Oak View resident died Monday evening after being carried from her burning home by firefighters.

Mary Mortensen died at Ojai Valley Community Hospital minutes after being taken from her small brick home on Grapevine Road, fire officials and neighbors said. They described her as a retiree, but did not know her age.

“She lived there for probably 50 years and is a very nice, very sweet lady,” said Rick Mitchell, a neighbor and friend who used a garden hose on the fire until emergency crews arrived.

When the fire started about 5 p.m., it wasn’t clear whether anyone was home because dense smoke had filled the single-story house. Neighbors called Mortensen’s son’s family in Ojai, who said she was probably inside.

Authorities said the blaze appears to be accidental, probably involving the fireplace, which neighbors said Mortensen often used. Nearly two dozen firefighters put out the fire in about 20 minutes.

Officials said Mortensen was unconscious and in full cardiac arrest when firefighters found her in a bedroom. An autopsy will be performed today. Neighbors in the area, a small cluster of custom homes on large lots along a river bottom, said the victim’s husband died several years ago.

“She grew up around here and was a longtime resident,” neighbor Bryan Bihari said. “She knows everyone in the area.”

Said Mitchell: “I remember when we first moved in and she brought us over some plants, and I sometimes took her over some food we had cooked.”

No damage estimate was available, but fire officials said damage was limited to the attic, roof, chimney area and one room.

The fire was the second in a week to claim the life of a Ventura County woman. A 39-year-old died March 12 in a blaze in Santa Paula.