A woman who suffered third-degree burns in a Temecula house fire shortly after midnight on Thursday died yesterday, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s office.
Deborah Schmidt, 65, was taken to an area hospital in critical condition after suffering smoke inhalation in the blaze, which was reported at 12:01 a.m., Riverside County Fire Department spokeswoman Melody Hendrickson said.
The exact cause of death was not released.
Riverside County Fire investigators believe the fire in the two-story home in the 31900 block of Via Cordoba was deliberately set and have determined that the cause of the fire was arson.
Riverside County Sheriff’s spokeswoman Lisa McConnell confirmed that sheriff’s investigators are looking into the incident as a possible suicide.
McConnell said there were no signs of foul play at the scene.
The fire caused an estimated $150,000 in damage, Hendrickson said.
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