A Lake Murray woman managed to escape an early morning fire that killed her 73-year-old husband and destroyed their home Wednesday, authorities reported.
Joanne and Delbert Gottke were in their second-floor bedroom at their Verlane Drive home when they smelled smoke around midnight, according to the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and county Medical Examiner's Office.
The couple hurried downstairs together, but when the woman got outside, she realized her husband was no longer with her, SDFRD spokesman Maurice Luque told reporters. By then, the fast-moving flames were engulfing the house.
It took firefighters about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which sent flames high into the air, Luque said.
Crews then entered the gutted home and found Delbert Gottke's body about 10 feet from the front door, lying at the foot of the stairs.
An autopsy determined that the retired schoolteacher died of smoke inhalation, a coroner's investigator said.
Medics took Joanne Gottke to a hospital, where she was treated for minor injuries and released. She planned to take up temporary lodging with friends and church-group members, Luque said.
The cause of the fire was unknown and will likely remain so for at least a day, since investigators will not be able to enter the ruins of the residence until construction workers shore up the charred framework.
"I don't think we'll be going back in there today," the spokesman said this afternoon.
