Deputies investigate fire suicide

March 05-- Mar. 5--TRAVERSE CITY -- The sound of something exploding downstairs proved all the warning a man and woman needed to escape their burning home.

The 69-year-old man and 67-year-old woman escaped before the flames completely engulfed the home near the end of Twin Bay Drive in East Bay Township just after 11 p.m. Thursday. The man forced a door open to check downstairs -- a ball of fire greeted him, said Grand Traverse County sheriff's Capt. Randy Fewless.

The man and woman fled to a neighbor's house and called 911. They feared their 37-year-old son, who also lived at the home, was trapped in the lower level.

Deputies searched around the burning house and heard something in a shed. They found the 37-year-old hunched over inside. He turned around and revealed a single-shot shotgun, threatening to hurt himself, said sheriff's Capt. Randy Fewless. The deputies backed off.

He ran from the shed and hid beneath a hoisted pontoon near Chandler Lake at the back of the property. A single gunshot rang through dark shortly after -- deputies didn't know who he fired at. They flew a drone to look down and saw the man dead. He killed himself, Fewless said.

Fire investigators still don't know how the fire started, Fewless said. Grand Traverse Metro Fire Chief Pat Parker previously said the fire burned hard for hours leaving the home in charred ruins -- it will be tough to find what sparked it.

The considerable damage may prevent investigators from ever finding the cause, he said. Firefighters were forced to put down their hoses until the man was found dead. They had to wait again for a utility to turn off the house's gas supply after the fire burned through the line.

Parker said it appears the first started in the two-story home's lower level -- the same level where the 37-year-old man slept in his room, Fewless said. Sheriff's department investigators continue investigating to determine whether the man is connected to the start of the fire.

Firefighters have since closed their investigation. They could not determine what cause the fire, Parker said.

"There really isn't anything really to investigate," Parker said. "The fire burned going on 10 hours."

He expects fire investigators will look again once the homeowner's insurance company arrives to witness the destruction.

Investigators sent the body for an autopsy in Kalamazoo Saturday.

Paradise Township firefighters also helped fight the flames.

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