UPDATE |Boardman fatal fire occurred around home's electric service, chief says

BOARDMAN

The Mahoning County Coroner’s office and the state Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating an early morning fire that killed an unidentified man of unknown age in a two-story, single-family wood-frame house.

The homeowner’s body was found in an upstairs bathroom of the house at 5731 Border Ave., which was destroyed by the blaze, said Fire Chief Mark Pitzer.

A neighbor called to report the fire at 4:07 a.m. today; and, when firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames and they were initially unable to enter the structure, he said.

Dr. Joseph Ohr, forensic pathologist and deputy county coroner, and a coroner’s investigator, were on the scene, along with two investigators from the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The house is the last house in a dead end off Meadowbrook Avenue.

The cause of the blaze is unknown, but the home’s electric service is in the area where the bulk of the fire occurred, Pitzer said.

“At this time, nothing looks suspicious, but we can’t rule anything out,” Pitzer said.

Boardman’s last fatal fire was at Mill Creek Village apartments on Lockwood Boulevard in January 2013, from which a 45-year-old woman, Shawna Carney, died of smoke inhalation.