LEWISTON, Utah — A man was found dead inside a home in Cache County that caught fire Sunday morning.
Witnesses called 9-1-1 around 8:45 a.m. to report a house on fire in Lewiston, according to the Cache County Sheriff's Office. Callers said the home was fully engulfed, with flames and smoke coming out of the windows and roof.
While firefighters from Lewiston and Smithfield worked to put the fire out, they learned that there was possibly a person still inside. The man who lived there was not accounted for and not been seen since the night before, his family said, and nobody had seen him leave the house.
Once the fire was contained enough to enter safely, firefighters went into the house and found the victim deceased. He was identified as 89-year-old Joe C. Nunez. The sheriff's office said victim advocates from the county have been providing assistance to the family.
The fire's cause is under investigation, but officials said they believe so far that it was an accident.
"The Cache County Sheriff’s Office and Victim’s Advocates extend their sincerest condolences to the family," the sheriff's office wrote in a statement. "This is a tragic incident and comes especially hard at this time of year."
