Woman killed in Banning house fire identified

On Monday authorities released the name of an 83-year-old grandmother who was killed when her home caught fire last week in Banning. Silvina Guzman died in the Jan. 26 blaze that also displaced her
daughter and two grandchildren from the family’s residence at 621 E. Ramsey St.

More than two dozen firefighters from Riverside County and the Morongo Fire Department arrived at 1:10 p.m. to find the home “well involved in fire,” said Tawny Castro of the county fire department. they had the blaze
under control by 1:41 p.m.

The cause of the blaze, which resulted in an estimated $40,000 in damage to the property, was electrical, according to Guzman’s grandson, Michael Sanchez.

According to Sanchez, who started a GoFundMe page Saturday to raise funds for the family, his grandmother and his younger sister were the only ones in the home when it went up in flames. His sister tried to pick up Guzman, who “wasn’t able to walk,” but was unable to carry her out of the home.

The sister looked for help from neighbors, while Sanchez and his mother arrived after firefighters were already on scene. Sanchez said he tried to run into the house to retrieve Guzman, but was pulled out by a police officer.

“We lost everything that day, including our beloved grandmother,” Sanchez wrote.

The family was more than halfway to their $3,000 goal by Monday afternoon. The GoFundMe page can be viewed at https://www.gofundme.com/3aybkwg,