PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A man found in a burning vacant house on Waverly Street early this morning was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital, according to Deputy Assistant Fire Chief Daniel Crowley.
Fire officials are not releasing the man's name at this time, Crowley said. He appeared to have been a squatter in the boarded-up building, and "appeared to be around 30 years old."
Heavy fire was showing on the front part of the second floor of 188 1/2 Waverly St. when firefighters arrived at 5:20 a.m., Crowley said. A neighboring resident reported the fire.
The fire appeared to have started in a front second-floor bedroom: the man was found in the second-floor bathroom toward the rear of the building, Crowley said.
"Because it's a vacant house we search as we get inside as we do an occupied home. We found the victim very quickly -- unfortunately he had succumbed to the injuries," Crowley said. Firefighters brought him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
"We have no reason to believe other than he died from injuries sustained -- probably from smoke inhalation," Crowley said.
The State Fire Marshal's office was notified because it was a fatal fire, Crowley said.
The fire is under investigation.