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Human remains found in wreckage of Mount Washington house that burned 3 months ago

Coroner officials have removed the charred remains from the wreckage of a massive Mount Washington home that burned in October.
(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)
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Human remains were discovered Wednesday amid the wreckage of a massive Mount Washington home that burned in October, authorities said.

The discovery appears to signal the end of a mystery spawned by the Oct. 20 blaze: What happened to the man last seen by housemates running into the flames?

For a week after the 9,100-square-foot home was ravaged by flames, authorities combed through the charred rubble, searching for signs of the man. Despite a “meticulous search,” Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Peter Sanders said the man was not found.

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On Wednesday, a demolition contractor at the home in the 4000 block of Sea View Avenue spotted the remains and notified the Fire Department, according to an agency spokesman.

The three-level home was located in the 4000 block of Sea View Avenue.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The Los Angeles Police Department has secured the property, and the coroner’s office is expected to visit the site Thursday to begin examining the remains, a police spokeswoman said.

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The man who is believed to have died in the fire, Robert Tieger, has been described as a landlord of the three-level home. In recent years, up to 15 people lived there at any given time, according to Daniel Nateras, a tenant who escaped the blaze.

Nateras told The Times that as flames overtook the home, Tieger ran toward a bedroom but never came out.

More than 150 firefighters responded to the blaze, and at one point three helicopters circled, surveying the property and monitoring whether embers ignited nearby brush.

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At least one person was injured: a 74-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation. A 32-year-old woman managed to escape through a ground-floor window with her dog and was examined for injuries by paramedics at the scene, Sanders said.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno

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