BRUNSWICK, Ohio — The Brunswick Fire Department is investigating a fatal fire that claimed the life of an elderly man and his dog.
According to authorities, the flames engulfed a small section of a home on Grafton Road Monday evening.
"When our fire units arrived on scene, there was white wispy smoke coming from the roof," said Brunswick Fire Chief Joshua Erskine. "They were able to make a quick entry in and knock down a small fire that was in the living room."
Erskine says despite the fire being small, the elderly man whose name they are not releasing yet, couldn't escape in time.
"The bi-products of combustion, smoke is extremely harmful, that can very well be the case here that he was overcome by smoke," he said.
Erskine says the man's death likely could have been prevented.
"We all think that this will never happen to us but it does, so a working smoke detector may have been a very critical piece here and it may have prevented a tragedy," said Erskine.
The cause of the fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal, the coroners office and Brunswick Fire and already the chief has a few leads.
"We can’t rule out smoking materials," he said.
