Investigators returned Monday to the scene of a southwest Atlanta house fire, where a body was found severely burned in a pool Saturday.
The fire at the ranch-style home in the 900 block of Oriole Drive is being investigated as arson.
“That does not mean it has been ruled an arson,” Atlanta fire Sgt. Cortez Stafford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Evidence found at the scene … leans toward arson and not an accidental fire.”
When crews got to the home about 6:20 p.m. Saturday, they found fast-moving flames and three cars burning in the garage, Stafford said.
Once firefighters got the blaze under control, an Atlanta fire chief safety officer in the backyard discovered a man severely burned at the bottom of a swimming pool, Stafford said.
Dive team members pulled the man out of the water.
No one was found inside the home, and Stafford said winds may have contributed to the spread of the fire.
Witnesses told Channel 2 Action News they noticed a series of explosions. It was unclear if those explosions were related to the fire.
“It is unknown how the fire started,” Stafford said.
Richard Hightower said he saw an emergency room doctor who lived in the home running from the structure.
“He probably had no clothes on,” Hightower told Channel 2. “He was running at top speed.”
The doctor works at two different local hospitals and lived in the home with a woman, according to Channel 2.
The identity of the man pulled from the bottom of the swimming pool was not released.
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