Victim killed in house fire ID’d

The man whose body was found Monday inside a house that was destroyed by fire was identified Tuesday as 64-year-old Jerry Evans by Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger.

Evans lived in the house in the 20 block of Seminary Avenue that was engulfed when firefighters arrived after the fire was reported around 3:30 p.m.

“When crews arrived the whole front side of the house was heavily involved in the fire. We had a report of people trapped initially so we got inside and started conducting a search right away while we started to get the fire knocked down as well,” said District Chief Matt McClain of the Dayton Fire Department.

Two of the three residents were accounted for, but crews Monday afternoon were conducting secondary searches and trying to reach relatives to track down the third occupant, McClain said.

The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office later confirmed its investigator was called to the scene after the victim, later identified as Evans, had been found. He was pronounced dead at 4:45 p.m., according to the release from the coroner.

The house is believed to be a total loss.

“The fire had run to all three floors of the house, so we had a heavy fire volume inside,” McClain said.

Crews were able to prevent the fire from coming through the roof, and were able to get it under control and knocked down quickly, he said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

One firefighter was checked for minor smoke inhalation but there were no other injuries reported.