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Community Mourns 'Neighborhood Mom' Marie Keller After Deadly House Fire In Orangevale

ORANGEVALE (CBS13) – A small bouquet of flowers now sits outside the burned down Orangevale home of a woman who could not escape the flames. A neighbor tearfully described the frantic efforts to reach her.

"I screamed her name, three or four times, 'Marie, Marie,' and we're really going to miss you so much, and we really, really love you Marie," said the neighbor, who told us he was a close friend of the victim.

Family confirms through social media that 76-year-old Marie Keller died in the fire. A post read "she loved to laugh and she did it a lot."

"Marie was like a neighborhood Mom," said neighbor Martha Junghardt, who remembered Keller as kind-hearted and easy-going.

"We came home, see the fire trucks, and see the house was on fire and was very hopeful that she was able to get out," Junghardt said.

Sacramento Metro firefighters say the flames likely started in the garage and spread to the rest of the home while Keller was sleeping. A tragic loss for a woman who loved life.

Her family and neighbors are left to mourn her death.

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