June 25--KERENS -- A Kerens man was found dead in his home on North Goodman Street in Kerens Monday, after a 9-1-1 call alerting first responders to a structure fire and a deceased person.
Kerens Police Chief Bryan Miers said the call came in about 12:15 p.m. Monday. Arriving units found there had been a fire at the home in the 600 block of North Goodman, but it had apparently extinguished itself, perhaps hours earlier.
"It appears the fire had started an burned interior parts of the home over the course of the night, and eventually smothered itself out," Miers said.
It was during a search of the home that firefighters found the body of 75-year-old Kenneth Lewis.
Lewis was pronounced dead Monday afternoon by Justice of the Peace Vicki Gray, who ordered an autopsy. She said she expected to have a preliminary cause of death Tuesday.
"Anytime someone dies in a fire I'm going to send them (for an autopsy)," Gray said.
Miers said due to the circumstances of the fire he requested assistance from the State Fire Marshal's office.
"I don't think at this time there was any 'foul play,'" Miers said, but added the investigation was still in its preliminary stages.
"We'll wait and see what the fire marshal comes up with and determine which direction we go from here," he said.
Lewis was a long-time Kerens resident, a former Kerens businessman, and father of three children.
Miers said the scene has been turned over to the State Fire Marshal's office.
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