ANDERSON, Ind. (NLI) - A Chesterfield firefighter and his dog were killed early Friday morning after a building they was sleeping in caught fire.
Jerry Hines Jr., 43, was a sleep inside the Back in Time flea market store located at 40 Broadway when the fire started.
A delivery boy noticed the fire at 4:35 a.m. and called 911.
Anderson Police Department Detective Terry Sollars said a wood-burning stove caused the fire.
"A flue that goes through the ceiling wasn't installed correctly," Sollars said. "The heat just caught the timbers on fire through the ceiling."
Sollars said the man and his dog were found just three feet away from the back door, apparently trying to escape. He said Hines had been living in the back part of the building due to family problems.
The building's owner, Leonard Dummitt, said that was not true. He said no one was living inside.
"I don't know why he was staying in there," Dummitt said.
Dummitt said the building was leased out to Hines' girlfriend, whose name he would not give. He said no one should have been inside the building.
Dummitt received a phone call around five on Friday morning saying the building had caught fire. He said he noticed Hines' blue Ford pick-up when he pulled up to the building.
Hines was a Chesterfield firefighter for nine years. Chief Dave Gillespie said Hines was "very well respected."
"What happened today [Friday] was a tragedy," Gillespie said. "To see him die from something he has spent so many years fighting is a shame."
Sollars said he believes smoke inhalation killed Hines. Ball Memorial Hospital is performing an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
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