A weekend fire at a home where a man was found dead and severely burned at the bottom of a pool is being investigated as arson, an Atlanta Fire Rescue spokesman said.
“That does not mean it has been ruled an arson,” Sgt. Cortez Stafford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Evidence found at the scene … leans toward arson and not an accidental fire.”
Atlanta fire, responding to a call about a structure fire, discovered a one-story home heavily involved with fire spreading quickly at about 6:20 p.m. Saturday in the 900 block of Oriole Drive, Stafford said.
Crews, quickly thwarting an initial interior search due to the speed at which flames spread, then knocked down the bulk of fire, including those burning three cars in the home’s garage.
That’s when crews began searching the home, and 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 victims were found inside the home, and Stafford said winds may have contributed to the spread of the fire.
“It is unknown how the fire started,” he said.
Witness Richard Hightower told Channel 2 Action News he earlier saw an emergency room doctor who lived in the home running from the structure.
“He probably had no clothes on. He was running at top speed,” Hightower said.
The doctor works at two different local hospitals and lived in the home with a woman, according to Channel 2.
Witnesses also told the station they noticed a series of explosions as officials worked to identify the victim, Sunday. It was unclear if those explosions were related to the fire or circumstances that killed the unidentified man found.
Homicide and arson detectives were on the scene collecting evidence early Sunday. They were working to identify the victim just after 10:30 a.m. and searching the home with a Labrador retriever trained to identify gasoline and other accelerates.
“The fire is under investigation at this point,” Stafford said.
