Man Found Dead After Apartment Fire Victim Was Seen Carrying Propane Tank Earlier In Day

Firefighters responding to a fire at a Hillyard apartment Saturday found a man’s partially burned body inside the bathroom.

A neighbor reported the fire at 2937 E. Queen just after 4 p.m.

The fire was quickly contained, and the apartment suffered only minor smoke damage, Spokane Fire Battalion Chief Skip Powell said.

The cause of the death - and the fire - hadn’t been determined late Saturday.

Neighbors said they saw the man carrying a propane tank in his back yard earlier in the day.

Next-door neighbor Jack Hicks was standing in his kitchen when he saw flames through the victim’s apartment window.

Hicks, who called 911, said the man was “a pretty nice neighbor.”

Neighbor Opal Fox said the man had lived in the neighborhood for years.

“I see him all the time,” she said. “But he was a person that kept to himself.”

Police detectives were at the scene to help determine the cause of the fire.

The victim’s name and age were not released.

, DataTimes