Man killed in fire may have lived in carport

Investigators have yet to identify the cause of a fire that claimed the life of a 33-year-old Porterville man, who neighbors say was living in his parents’ apartment's carport.

Firefighters responded to the fire at 3:36 a.m. Sunday morning in the 100 block of South C Street. The Porterville Fire Department reports that crews found a carport attached to a single-story apartment, engulfed in flames with one person inside.

The fire department said that damage to the structure has been estimated at $20,000. As of Monday afternoon, the cause of the fire was under investigation.

Firefighters extinguished the blaze roughly 20 minutes after arriving on scene, and confirmed the man was dead.

Coy Farnsworth, PFD’s public education officer, said Monday the cause of the man’s death is unknown, pending an autopsy. The Tulare County Coroner’s Office reported the man was “very badly burned” and that it had yet to confirm his identity, which may take up to two days.

Neighbors living in the small apartment complex said Monday they were shocked when police told them someone was living in the carport.

One tenant, who did not disclose his name, said he knew the man.

“He was the son of some of the people who live here, but we all thought he was staying in the apartment,” he said. He added that none of the tenants living in the eight-unit complex, including himself, use their carport to park their car.

“We use them for storage,” he said, noting that they park along C Street because it is more convenient.

The man’s family, who declined to comment, looked distraught Monday morning as they gathered at their apartment’s front door.

Someone placed flowers, a plate of food and a soft drink at the foot of a charred daybed frame, where the small carport once stood.

Persons commenting on The Recorder’s website identified the man as Srisay Mosana.

According to Mosana’s Facebook page, he was a 1998 Porterville High School graduate and regularly relocated from Springville to Porterville, and vice versa.

Mosana’s Aug. 10, 2011 Facebook status read, “I’m packed up and ready to move. But to where?”

The death is Porterville’s second fire fatality in a week. On Dec. 31, a 51-year-old Porterville woman died in a fire on West Morton Avenue.

Contact Denise Madrid at 784-5000, Ext. 1047. Follow her on Twitter @DeniseMadrid_.