CANTON (WWJ) -- A Canton man has died in a fire after he went back into his burning home to look for his pet.
The fire broke out around 1 a.m., on Lancelot Street, near Sheldon and Palmer, according to authorities.
WWJ's Luke Sloan reports three people lived in the home: an 81-year-old Airforce veteran, a 44-year-old man, and a woman.
All three people got out of the house, officials said, but the 44-year-old man went back in to try to rescue a cat.
"Firefighters arrived on the scene, he did not come out, they went inside to try to find him," Sloan said. "A second and third waves of firefighters went inside; that's when they found him dead."
The fire was out later in the morning, but the home already suffered extensive damage.
No one else was hurt.
Luke Sloan/WWJ
Neighbor Debbie Early, who lives across the street, was up watching TV when she heard loud bangs, went outside, saw the massive flames, and called 911.
She was devastated to hear what happened.
"My heart breaks. My heart breaks for the parents, and the loved ones," she said. "Because you wanna try and save your pets, of course, right? But to make that decision to go back in, and it ended the way it ended, is very heartbreaking."
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
