Hoarder dies in Parkmerced fire

A body was found in an apartment in a Parkmerced high-rise Friday morning after a fire broke out in a cluttered apartment, a deputy fire chief said.

Fire crews responded around 5:10 a.m. to a Parkmerced apartment building at first block of Chumasero Drive, off of Brotherhood Way. Deputy Chief Mark Gonzales said there were several small fires at a unit where a hoarder appeared to live in a unit near the bottom of the building.

He said it took crews some time to find the flames before quickly extinguishing the blaze.

Crews found a body in a unit that was filled with items, he said. That person appears to have been the only resident in the unit. No other injuries were reported.

A fire alarm had gone off in the entire building, he said, however the blaze did not spread to other units. The fire remains under investigation, he said.