EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio — Fire investigators spent Wednesday combing through debris looking for a man who's been missing since his East Cleveland home caught fire early Wednesday morning.
Wednesday afternoon, authorities confirmed that a body had been found, but the person has not been identified.
According to the East Cleveland Fire Department, a neighbor reported the fire around 4:30 a.m. near the end of Bryn Mawr Road.
Investigators believe the fire started in one home and then spread to a neighboring house.
A third house was damaged by the heat from the fire.
East Cleveland Fire Chief David Worley held a news conference Wednesday afternoon to give an update on what happened. Watch below:
According to Worley, the house where the fire started ended up completely collapsing.
The man who owned that home has not been seen since the fire.
Neighbors said his car was in the driveway, leading them to believe he was home when the fire began.
The Ohio State Fire Marshal's Office brought in a cadaver dog to search through the rubble to look for anyone who may have been inside when the fire occurred.
The fire chief said the dog alerted to something in the rubble, but it wasn't clear what it was.
"Right now, we are looking to dig through everything that was left there, and we will take it from that point," Worley said during the news conference.
Family and neighbors said the man who lives in the home is Les Hiller.
They said Hiller has lived on Bryn Mawr for decades and owned both homes that burned, as well as another across the street.
"We're praying just at least find something so we can be at peace," said Ashley McKenna, who lives across the street from Hiller.
Tony Jones grew up on Bryn Mawr and called Hiller "a great guy."
"I remember him when I was a child riding up and down the street on his bike with bags collecting cans," said Jones, "and to his progress, to see he bought his home, he bought another home, that says a lot in itself."
During an afternoon news conference, Worley touched on water pressure and how it might have impacted the department's ability to fight the fire.
"We didn't have an issue getting water, just with the pressure. That's why we had to go to RTA to a better hydrant, which gave us better pressure," Worley said during the news conference. "Right now, during this very moment, we are putting out fire from the hydrant that's right there," pointing at a hydrant near the home that was on fire.
Rail service at Stokes-Windermere Station was temporarily paused due to a safety risk, according to the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority. Rail service has since been restarted.
Worley said water pressure issues impact how far crews can go into the fire.
"As long as we can throw water, we are doing good. The pressure allows us to push in harder and faster," he said. "So again, that's why we immediately tied in RTA and were able to get even more pressure from them."
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
