Hamilton Fire Chief Mark Mercer said firefighters were told the house would be unoccupied because the male resident left for work.
“We found out that he indeed never did go to work,” Mercer said. The man was found dead in the house. “A very sad situation. Our guys worked very hard to put the fire out and ... believed the house was unoccupied.”
Mercer said there are lots of questions, noting the fire may have been smoldering before breaking into flames.
Hamilton Fire Investigator Trevor Snider is investigating to determine a cause.
“There is nobody to say what did or didn’t happen, so it will take some time. There was a lot of damage to the house.,” Mercer said.
The chief said there is no reason to suspect it was anything other than accidental, “but we want to make sure we do everything to make sure the proper cause and origin as determined.”
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