Man found dead in condemned home is believed to have started fire

Investigators on Sunday continued to work to determine the identity of the body found in a condemned house that caught fire Saturday in Belleville.

The cause of the fire is now believed to be “some act of the person,” who was possibly smoking or using candles for light or heat, Belleville Fire Chief Tom Pour said.

Firefighters found a badly-burned body of an adult male in the house at 602 Abend St. in Belleville. An autopsy was conducted Sunday afternoon, and Pour said DNA testing would also take place Sunday.

“Preliminary (autopsy) results showed carbon deposits in the airway and lungs, which leads us to believe that the victim was alive at the time of the fire,” Pour said. There was “no other physical trauma on the body,” he said.

The body was found in the living room, where the fire apparently started, Pour said, along with smoking materials and candles. There were no utilities connected to the house, firefighters said Saturday.

“We’re not looking at this as suspicious in any way,” Pour said.

Neighbors told firefighters they had recently seen squatters or homeless people around the home.

The fire was reported about 6:20 a.m. After arriving on scene a minute later, firefighters saw heavy flames coming out of the house. The fire was under control in 10 to 15 minutes, Deputy Chief Bud Jacobs said Saturday.

Pour said residents should take caution when disposing of smoking materials and using nontraditional methods to heat their homes. Multiple fires this year have been the result of “carelessness,” he said.

“(There have) been several fires already this year because of similar situations,” Pour said.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Man found dead in condemned home is believed to have started fire."