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Battle Creek Police investigate ‘suspicious death’ house fire

Posted at 11:45 AM, Jan 01, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-01 11:50:28-05

BATTLE CREEK, Mich.  — Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fatal house fire on Battle Creek’s northwest side.

The Battle Creek Police Department has labeled it a “suspicious death”, and is treating it as a possible homicide.

The city’s Fire Marshal was still on the scene late Tuesday morning, per investigators.

The fire broke out around 12:46 a.m. Tuesday, at 250 Graves Avenue, near Parkway Avenue.

Battle Creek Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant tells FOX 17 “smoke was billowing out” of the one-story, single-family home when firefighters arrived on the scene. But he says once oxygen hit the smoldering fire, it “erupted”.

“Crews did a pretty rapid, aggressive response and knocked it down within about 20 minutes,” says Sturdivant. “And it was extinguished in about 35 minutes.”

He says the man’s body was found in the rear portion of the house, between the front living room and a rear kitchen. Chief Sturdivant says the Battle Creek Police Department is facilitating a forensic investigation.

The man’s name, age and precise cause of death have not been determined yet.

Anyone with additional information should call the Calhoun County Consolidated Dispatch at (269)-781-0911.