SANTA ANA : Fire Kills Man, 70, Guts 2-Story House

An elderly man who had become reclusive after his wife’s death two months ago perished in a fire that gutted his north Santa Ana home Saturday night, firefighters and neighbors said.

Firefighters discovered the body of Albert Grenda, 70, lying near a sofa in the living room of his two-story house on West Buffalo Avenue. The body was burned beyond recognition, they said.

Neighbors said they heard glass breaking shortly after the fire broke out on the first floor of the house about 10 p.m.

“The fire had blown out the glass” in the windows, said James Broeske, who lives across the street from the Grenda home.

Broeske said he was having a party when a neighbor rapped on his door and told him that Grenda’s house was on fire. “We smashed a window” to gain entry, Broeske said, “but by this time, the house was hot and smoky. We tried to push open the door to the family room. It was real hot. We couldn’t go any farther.”

Santa Ana Fire Department spokeswoman Sharon Frank said the first floor was “heavily involved” when firefighters arrived on the scene about 10 minutes later. It took 25 firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze, she said.

Frank said investigators have estimated the damage at $150,000.

Grenda’s stepson, Bill Francis, said Grenda had become “distraught and withdrawn” after his wife died in December. Neighbors said that Grenda did not leave the house even to pick up the daily newspapers, which lay in stacks in the front yard.

Francis said his stepfather had been a buyer with the Fluor Corp. before his retirement several years ago. Grenda moved into the house about seven years ago, when he married Francis’ mother, Francis said.

“He was very much a loner. I tried to draw him out,” said Francis, who is a Sheriff’s Department lieutenant. “He wouldn’t answer the phone or even answer the door. I had to respect his privacy.”

Frank said investigators are still trying to determine the cause of the blaze.