Body discovered after massive fire destroys Scottsdale home

Body found in scorched Scottsdale home

Firefighters have discovered the remains of a human body in the rubble of a Scottsdale home. FOX 10's Nicole Garcia has the latest.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Firefighters are investigating what caused a home in Scottsdale to go up in flames on the night of Tuesday, Dec. 14.

The Scottsdale Fire Department said the home near 120th Street and Shea Boulevard was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived at the scene.

Firefighters were not able to look inside the home until the fire was extinguished, and officials confirmed to FOX 10 that one body was found inside, along with the bodies of several animals.

"They know it is a human body, but they don't know if it is the homeowner right now," said Sgt. Kevin Quon with Scottsdale Police. "They just can't tell."

Neighbor reports hearing ‘popping’ noises

"Quite honestly, I've never seen anything that fast," said neighbor Lynn Grandon. "It was way above the trees, it was just popping…she was a breeder of Papillon dogs. I don't know how many dogs were in the house."

The only thing she and her other neighbors could do is watch as the flames devoured the home. Grandon said she hadn't seen or heard from the owner, who lives alone, for quite some time.

"We kept heading popping, like little bombs - come to find out she had several propane tanks in the house," Grandon said. "She was an artist, so she had a lot of paint in the garage all the time."

Scottsdale Fire said they received reports of explosions.

"There were reports of explosions going off during the firefight, and ammunition rounds going off as well," said Scottsdale Fire Deputy Chief Adam Hoster. "That might lead to possible propane tanks inside, also unknown amounts of ammunition that may have been stored."

Not the first fire at this address

FOX 10 reported on a fire at the same home in 2014. The owner at the time, Valerie Skidmore, said she was breeding puppies at the house. She said she arrived home one day and saw her barn on fire. As many as 10 dogs were believed to be killed in the fire.

Tracy, a neighbor, helped Skidmore clean up that fire more than six years ago.

"I worked for her, and she had a fire here, and I helped her clean up her fire," Tracy said. "I came out just a week ago…she called me and asked if I could help her get her place cleaned. I left at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, and someone texted me this morning."

Officials have yet to make contact with Skidmore.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Fire crews say they need to sift through waist-high levels of debris.