A house fire claimed the life of one man, man and destroyed a house on Commandant Gade, St.Thomas, Friday, according to V.I. Fire Services.
Arson investigators and police forensics officers are working to determine whether or not foul play was a factor in the fire and the death. Officials had not released the name of the victim by Friday evening.
Assistant Fire Services Director Darryl George said in a statement Friday that four fire-fighting vehicles and ten firefighters from the Fort Christian and Fortuna fire stations responded to a 1:15 p.m. call for assistance.
“In fact, the fire truck and firefighters from Fort Christian had just completed training at Magens Bay and were returning to base when the call came in. We immediately dispatched the unit from the area of the Louisenhoj castle to Garden Street," George said.
At the scene, firefighters found the part wood, part masonry structure engulfed in flames.
“We attacked the fire from two angles and fully extinguished the blaze in about 15 minutes. It was during our initial inspection of the fire scene that we found the body of the adult male in what appeared to be a bedroom,” George said.
He listed the physical address of the house as No. 10 OV Commandant Gade.
All Saints Cathedral School evacuated the campus as a safeguard. The school sits just to the north of the fire scene. No other structure was threatened or involved in the blaze, according to Fire Services.
The body was removed to the Schneider Hospital morgue about two hours after the initial call of the fire. An autopsy will determine the cause of death and confirm the identity of the man who perished in this afternoon’s fire.
