Man dies in house fire | Local News | codyenterprise.com – Cody Enterprise

A weekend house fire on Cooper Lane resulted in the death of an elderly Cody man.

Firefighters found his body on the second floor of the historical home at 3704 Cooper Lane about an hour after they were notified of the fire at noon Sunday. The victim was the sole occupant.

On Wednesday morning officials had not yet shared the victims name, saying while they believed it was the 74-year-old white male occupant, his identity could not be confirmed until a coroners autopsy Thursday.

The 1910 log house was built on a homestead on several acres just outside current city limits. Several additions were later added.

According to Sam Wilde, Cody Fire Department marshal, the fire, which started on the second story, burned inside unnoticed for many hours because of the homes sturdy log construction. It wasnt until interior oxygen was consumed that flames finally broke through the roof, setting shingles on fire. Neighbors then spotted sign of the fire and reported it at 11:58 a.m.

They couldnt see smoke visible until it broke through the roof, Wilde said.

In all, 31 emergency personnel and eight units responded.

He said the fire likely started earlier that morning, or even the night before. The house was completely destroyed.

Going through the rubble, firefighters were unable to locate smoke alarms either on the main level or upstairs where the fire had started and burned everything.

If fire detectors were installed, they werent functioning, he said.

Although firefighters gained

entry to the first floor fairly quickly, Wilde said they werent able to access the second level where they found the body until 1 p.m.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

There was so much stuff that burned, the fire marshal said. There were so many things we couldnt rule out; so many different possibilities.

Space heaters, a fireplace, the fact the victim was a heavy smoker are all possibilities.

There were electrical issues all over in the old home, Wilde said. There were so many things we looked at.

Although it took about an hour to extinguish the blaze, firefighters were on the scene almost five hours, mainly because it took considerable time to sift through charred remains upstairs.

We did have a lot of mop up because there was a lot of stuff to dig through to make sure the fire was all out, Wilde said.

Despite that precaution, the fire re-ignited, and the fire department was called back to the site 6:30 a.m. Monday. They spent another 45 minutes extinguishing the rekindled fire.

Discovery of the owners body inside the house was somewhat expected.

Wilde said neighbors and the mans brother thought he likely was at home, his pickup was in the driveway and he wasnt found elsewhere.

The sad outcome is cause for Wilde to again stress the importance of smoke detectors to alert people and allow them time to escape harm.

The majority of fatality fires [locally] and nationwide are because there were no working smoke detectors, he said.

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Man dies in house fire | Local News | codyenterprise.com - Cody Enterprise