MANCHESTER, NH (WMUR/CNN) - An apparent hoarder died in a house fire after firefighters struggled to move piles of debris in the house to reach him.
Neighbors say the hoarding started 11 years ago when the man lost his wife and he simply didn't want to throw out anything that reminded him of her.
At 1:34 a.m. on Monday, the call came in. There was a fire at 137 Hazelton Ct. in Manchester.
"Upon arrival, the fire company had heavy fire conditions in the rear of the building along with heat and smoke throughout the entire structure at the given time,” said District Chief Al Poulin of the Manchester Fire Department.
Firefighters were concerned that someone might be inside so they tried to enter the home only to encounter items piled everywhere. "Yeah, the hoarding situation made it very difficult for firefighters even to move around. Due to the collapse of the ceiling in the kitchen and the living room area, firefighters had an extremely hard time getting through that area, to make it to the bedrooms,” Poulin said.
The search continued and when firefighters entered the kitchen area they discovered a 58-year-old man. Again, they had to clear a path through debris in order to get him out the side door.
"All the firefighters on the scene were totally exhausted by the time the rescue was performed. And then we called additional companies to come for overhaul, due to the extreme conditions of the weather, the heat, the humidity and also the amount of debris that had to be removed from the fire scene,” Poulin said.
The victim was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. The district chief says it looks like the fire started in the rear of the house.
"There was heavy fire in the rear of the building. It was kind of a three-seasons porch area back there that basically melted and the fire had extended into the kitchen area on arrival,” Poulin said.
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