Firefighters find body after Dunwoody blaze

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Firefighters recovered a body at a Dunwoody home destroyed by fire Sunday morning.

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Bob Andres, bandres@ajc.com The mood was somber as these individuals, who identified themselves as family members, wait and watch at the scen of a deadly fire on Houghton Court in DeKalb County.

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Relatives told firefighters an elderly woman lived in the ranch-style house on Houghton Court, according to DeKalb County Fire Capt. Eric Jackson, but he could not confirm the victim's identity.

"Based on our information, this was the only person who lived there, the only person in the house at the time," Jackson said.

About 6:40 a.m., a resident on Manhasset Farm Court reported seeing the fire through the woods. When firefighters arrived at the house, "it was nearly fully involved," Jackson said.

"It was a defensive operation from the onset," he said. "Once we were able to knock more of the fire down, we had some stability issues because the first floor had fallen into the basement. We didn't want firefighters falling through."

The body was found around 9 a.m., Jackson said.

He could not say where in the house the body was found, where the fire began, or what might have started it.

A dog's body also was recovered.