CHESTERFIELD, Va. (WTVR)--On Monday the Fire Marshal and investigators sifted through the charred remains of an eastern Henrico home on Old Memorial Dr.
A home completely devastated by the intense flames and smoke that had engulfed it the night before, leaving one man dead.
According to Captain Rosenbaum with the Henrico Fire Department, the house was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived.
Fire crews made an aggressive exterior fire attack to knock down most of the blaze. The single family ranch style home was heavily damaged by fire, but fire crews were able to contain the fire to the original structure.
A neighboring house suffered only minor damage from the fire.
The family has been left with very few answers, and neighbors, like Amy Rawls, are beside themselves.
"It was a small fire at first then the whole house was burning, flames were bright in front of it and they were telling everyone to stay away because you could hear the explosions, the guy had a lot of ammo in the house."
Rawls says the man who owned the home kept to himself and often practiced target shooting in the yard. Neighbors also said there were concerns of domestic issues within the home but a family member told CBS 6 that earlier Sunday everything seemed okay over the weekend, even hours before the fire started.
"I’ve never seen anything like this happen in real life- it's tragic at Christmas,” Rawls said.
Henrico police said they're withholding the victim's name and other personal information in this case.
The Fire Marshal’s office said their end of the investigation, including the cause of the fire and death, could take some time.
"With the heavy fire damage all around the structure, it's going to be a long investigation of our Fire Marshal’s Office as well as the Henrico police,” said Lt. Jackson Baynard with Henrico Fire.
