Man found dead outside burning home; Cause of fire under investigation

The Colorado Springs Fire Department is investigating the cause and origin of a house fire that sparked Thursday. A man was found dead outside the burning home.

The fire sparked Thursday morning in the 2400 block of Tahoe Boulevard.

Police said a man had called 911 threatening to kill himself and set his home on fire. When officers and firefighters responded, they found a man outside a burning home. Police said he did not die because of the fire. His identity and cause of death have not been released.

One neighbor said he spoke with the man when the fire started.

“I drove right to his driveway,” Jeffrey Carlson said. “Got out, ran out to the front of my vehicle, and I got to his sidewalk and he said, ‘You better get out of here.’ By the way he said it, kind of ominously, something clicked in my head and it told me, just listen to him, go back around.”

Carlson said his neighbor had been living next door for several years but had only spoken to him a handful of times.

Firefighters weren’t initially able to enter the home, and residents in the immediate area were evacuated, because there was a possible threat of improvised explosives inside the home. Police later confirmed there weren’t any. Residents were able to return home and firefighters were able to go inside.