ATLANTA — At least one person has died in a southeast Atlanta house fire, the city's fire and rescue service tweeted out early Thursday.
Atlanta Fire Rescue said the fire happened on the 1400 block of Gault St., in the Chosewood Park neighborhood.
"Atlanta Fire on scene in the 1400 block of Gault Street SW. Working fire at a home with a confirmed fatality. Atlanta Fire Investigators on scene," Atlanta Fire Rescue tweeted.
11Alive's Joe Ripley reported the man was found dead inside the home, which was otherwise described as vacant. He was said to be in the back room of the home.
Fire officials said the man did not live at the home, which was largely boarded up. He was described as being in his 30s-40s, with a combination of the fire and smoke inhalation his likely cause of death.
They first responded around 2 a.m., describing the home as 70% engulfed in flames. That required a defensive operation, meaning before firefighters could enter the house they had to hose it down from the outside to tamp down the fire a bit.
It was too early to determine a cause of the fire.
Atlanta Fire Capt. Cortez Stafford said crews have encountered similar situations in the winter before.
"Anytime someone attempts to stay warm and they possibly lose their life from it is unfortunate," he said. "We encourage people who are seeking shelter to go to one of the shelters downtown or in the Atlanta area instead of attempting to go into a vacant home."