BARBERTON: Firefighters and the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office were investigating a fatal house fire early Saturday at 649 Lincoln Ave.
Firefighters arrived around 1 a.m. and found a man dead in the kitchen, the medical examiner’s office said.
His identity had not been released by Saturday evening. A cause of death was pending.
Barberton’s fire marshal is not expected to issue a report until Monday.
Neighbor Sarah Dolgos said she heard “an explosion at like 1 a.m. and the windows were blown out and I looked and saw flames.”
Another neighbor had already called 911.
The neighborhood is filled with wood-frame homes close together, but Dolgos said fire crews responded quickly and her home was not damaged.
She said the home at 649 Lincoln was divided into two apartments, but only the upstairs portion was occupied. Flames were coming through the roof at the height of the fire, she said.
The home was barricaded Saturday afternoon and there was obvious smoke and fire damage to the white front door.
Dolgos said she was friends with the man who lived next door and knew he had recently had a hip replacement and another medical condition required him to use an oxygen tank.
Further details were not available.
