A man died Friday morning after he initially escaped a house fire in Eagle Rock, but then went back inside, officials said.
The blaze was reported around 8:35 a.m. at 1456 W. Hepner Ave. where fire crews arrived to find the single-family home engulfed in flames.
Four men evacuated safely, at first. However, one man who went back inside was later found dead, witnesses told the Los Angeles Fire Department.
“Don’t go back in once you make it out safely because things like this do happen,” Firefighter David Ortiz told KTLA.
Crews extinguished the fire in about 30 minutes but the home is considered to be a total loss. Neighboring homes were not damaged.
While the cause of the fire is under investigation, Ortiz said investigators are looking closely at a space heater as the possible source.
Ortiz says it also appears the home’s smoke alarms were not functioning. Witnesses told fire officials they did not hear smoke alarm sounds coming from inside the home.
No firefighters were injured.