Neighbors React to Deadly House Fire

Broken glass and crime scene tape litter the front yard of a home on Elm Avenue in Montgomery.  A fire broke out Sunday night, at the home that originally firefighters believed was vacant.  Monday afternoon, they found a man’s body inside.

“It was almost like a boom, it was like a big thud,” explained neighbor Charlotte Reeder.

“When I ran out the back door, the fire was a good 15-20 feet above his roof line,” shared neighbor Frank Hanley who lives two doors down.

He and other neighbors say they were sure the man was not home at the time of the fire.

“Everybody here thought he was still in the hospital, because the firemen asked if anybody was in the house and we told him he was in the hospital because that’s where he was,” Hanley added.

The Office of City Investigations is reviewing the fire department’s response to the fire.  The cause of the fire is still under investigation and fire officials have not released the victim’s name.