Sunday Night House Fire Claims One Man's Life

A man died in a fire Sunday night at a home on Rosewood Drive in Paducah.

Chief Doug Cooper of the Hendron Volunteer Fire Department told West Kentucky Star they were called to 470 Rosewood Drive about 9:00 pm Sunday and found the home engulfed in flames. They extinguished the blaze, and then found a male victim inside the home. 

The McCracken County Sheriff's Department also responded, and detectives spoke to witnesses who said the homeowner, 71-year-old Alexander J. Cherry, arrived home about 15 minutes before they saw the fire.

Cooper said the home was a two-story structure with a deck for the second floor that was also a carport underneath. He said the blaze appeared to start with some kind of small fire underneath the structure that ignited it and then spread to the house. The witnesses who spoke to detectives said they saw the blaze quickly spread from a carport to the home.

Cooper said they assisted with an investigation into the fatal fire Monday morning, and then were called back to the home just before noon to extinguish a "hot spot" that had re-ignited. 

Cooper and the Sheriff's Department said foul play is not suspected in the fire, which is still under investigation by the McCracken County Coroner, the Sheriff's Department, and the Kentucky State Fire Marshal's Office.