Man found dead after fire at southwest Illinois home. State fire marshal investigating
Cahokia Heights firefighters found a man’s lifeless body inside a fire-ravaged home in Wednesday.
St. Clair County Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. identified the victim as Earnest Duty, 28, of 1214 Richard Dr. Duty was pronounced dead on the scene at 3:53 p.m. from what appears to be smoke inhalation, Dye said.
Cahokia Heights Fire Chief Steve Robbins said a call reporting the fire came in to the fire department at 2:45 p.m. Crews arrived to find “heavy fire in the front of the house,” Robbins said.
It took the 15 firemen from Cahokia Heights, Camp Jackson, Prairie Dupont and Dupo fire departments about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control, he said.
The building was “almost totally” destroyed, Robbins said.
“Unfortunately, we found a male subject in the house,” he said.
Robbins said an investigation is underway by the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office to determine the cause of the blaze.
This story was originally published February 10, 2022 at 9:16 AM.
