CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Authorities have identified the Clearlake Oaks man whose body was found following a Sunday fire, the cause of which has been ruled accidental.

The fire at the Lake Haven Motel, located at 100 Short St., occurred Sunday afternoon.

Dozens of residents in the 1970s motel – which county officials said was being used as long-term, low-income housing without the required permits – escaped uninjured, but firefighters discovered the body of a man in one of the units, as Lake County News has reported.

The man was identified on Tuesday as Robert Claude Hood, 67, according to Lt. Steve Brooks of the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Hood lived in unit No. 28 on the motel's second story. That's where firefighters found his body and also where the fire started, according to the Lake County Arson Task Force's initial report on the incident.

Within a few minutes of their arrival on the scene, investigators determined the fire's cause was accidental, according to the report.

The fire's source has been traced to Hood’s kitchen, located by the unit’s front door. Investigators found there had been a lit cigarette in the trash can, the report said.

Northshore Deputy Chief Pat Brown, who was the incident commander, said there was a lot of trash and other items in the room that acted as fire accelerants.

Brown said Hood's body was found on the unit's couch.

The exact cause of Hood's death is pending the results of his autopsy, which Brooks said was conducted on Tuesday.

Brooks said the autopsy results are expected in about two weeks.

Fire officials told Lake County News that they have had ongoing concerns about the aging building, built of cinder blocks and wood.

At the scene, Brown had said he was having the building shut down.

Although only a few units were damaged in the fire, the building has been red-tagged and closed to occupancy, according to Community Development Director Rick Coel, who inspected the building on Sunday afternoon.

Coel said his department had posted a notice of nuisance and order to abate last February for numerous violations – including converting motel rooms to apartments, excessive open and outdoor storage, non-operational vehicles and construction without permits.

However the Napa-based Johanson Living Trust, which owns the building, had filed a request for a hearing before the Board of Supervisors, a request Coel said that he and his staff had planned to address this winter.

He said Tuesday that a new notice of nuisance and abate order will be posted this week.

“There will be no occupancy allowed and no electricity restored until property is repaired and brought to code as an apartment returned back to a motel,” said Coel.

He said there will need to be a planning process followed if the building is to be used as apartments again in the future.

Following the fire, the motel's residents – which had been estimated at about 30 by fire officials at the scene – were given temporary housing through the Red Cross.

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