DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — DeKalb County Fire and Rescue is investigating a deadly fire that happened early Thursday morning.
Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach learned that a 42-year-old man was found dead in a bedroom on the second floor of a house on Covington Highway.
A medical examiner identified the victim as Adelfo Jimenez, 42 of Lithonia.
Four of his family members were able to escape. One of them was taken to a hospital.
Fire investigators say the fire started on one side of the house near the living room and rec room, but quickly moved across the split-level house to the stairs, blocking the path for firefighters to go up or the victim to come down.
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Firefighters told Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach that, when they arrived, they tried to get in, but the fire was too intense.
They had to back out and start putting water on the fire. They were then able to get a ladder to a second-floor window.
"We were able to go into a bedroom and do a search, and that’s where we found the victim in a secondary bedroom,” Capt. Dion Bentley, with DeKalb County Fire and Rescue, said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.