Santa Cruz man identified as victim in Incline Village fire

The victim in the August 7 fire in Incline Village has been identified as a 19-year-old man about to start his sophomore year at San Francisco State.

The Santa Cruz Sentinal is reporting that Alan Rafalski of Santa Cruz was killed when fire broke out his family's vacation home on Tomahawk Trail at approximately 3:00 a.m. When fire fighters arrived, the home was fulled engulfed in flames and only after several hours of firefighting efforts, were crews able to enter the structure to find Rafalski's body.

Besides the young Rafalski, also in the home were his mother and father, and a brother-in-law and his 8-year-old son, all who were able to escape from the burning house.

A gofundme.com account has been started to helped the family. As of Wednesday, $24,522 has been raised, almost half-way to the goal of $50,000.

An online memorial fund has been established at gofundme.com/2ysv9vws. The memorial will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 3 at Twin Lakes Church, 2701 Cabrillo College Drive, Aptos.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Washoe County Sheriff's detectives and the North Lake Tahoe Fire Protection District have launched a joint investigation into the cause of the fire, and the cause of death will be released by the Sheriff's office.