Kentucky Father Dies In House Fire; Son and Firefighters Desperately Try To Save Him

A man has died after a fire in a Lexington duplex Friday morning. It happened just after midnight on Codell Drive.

A passerby saw the flames and called police. Now, an investigation is launched into what may have sparked the fire.

Police say a father and his son lived inside the home. The father died in the home, despite his son's and firefighters efforts to save him.

People were awakened from their beds to find the home on fire. Latess Mayes says she was driving by, saw the flames, and called 911. "We asked if there were any kids in there." Others said they didn't think anyone was inside. Mayes says, "I knew there was somebody in there, because the window was cracked upstairs, like somebody was trying to get out."

That window is to the room where firefighters say the fire started. They were able to put out the blaze pretty quickly.

Once the smoke cleared, fire investigators say they found the root of the problem. A damaged power cord to a space heater was pinched between the bedframe and a wall, catching the mattress on fire where 68-year-old James Morrison slept.

Mayes says she saw them bring the man out and she knew he was burned. "It didn't look too good."

Morrison died after being transported to the UK Medical Center. His son's burns were minor.