When firefighters first arrived at 1443 Finnegan Lane, they thought the house was abandoned. The broken windows were boarded up with plywood, and junk was piling up in the backyard.
"Boarded up windows meant no one from the road could see it," fire marshal Craig Snedicker said. "It probably burned for 30 minutes before anyone called us."
By that time, it was too late. A man described by neighbors as being in his mid-40s was found dead in his bed, and a woman who lives in the home is still missing.
"It's very sad because they were good people," neighbor Ambrish Parmar said.
Fire officials say the home had a deadly mix of fire hazards. There were no smoke detectors and piles of junk everywhere. The space heaters were the only source of heat in the home.
"It can overheat," Snedicker said. "Sometimes something close to it can catch fire, so we try not to have any."
Sixty firefighters responded. The fire is out, but authorities are still searching for woman. Officials say the home will have to be demolished.
