Man Dies In Vinton County House Fire

Investigators were searching for the cause of a Wednesday morning fire that killed a man.

Fire investigators said that the home, located at 59973 U.S. Highway 50, caught fire just before 6 a.m.

The home was considered a total loss, 10TV’s Jessa Goddard reported.

Neighbor Stephanie Jones said she woke up to a loud noise and flames engulfing the home across the street.

“Flames were shooting 20 feet in the air,” Jones said. “They fought it for an hour and a half before they ever got it down. And then it started again.”

Fire officials said that they battled the flames for more than six hours.

“That will help us render a cause on the fire or at least a direction that we’re going to go” Josh Hobbs of the State Fire Marshal’s Office said.

Neighbors said that the man who lived at the house was a heavy smoker, but fire officials had yet to determine the cause of the fire. They said that he lived alone with two dogs and a rooster, which were outside at the time of the fire and survived.

It was unknown if there were working smoke detectors inside the home, Goddard reported.

Investigators said that the man's body was transported to the Montgomery County Coroner's Office for an autopsy.

The victim's identity was not immediately released.

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