Two people were inside a Circle Avenue home in Spencer when it caught fire early Thursday morning. Concerned neighbors in the close knit community came out hoping for the best, and finding out the worst.

Neighbor Sue Looney said, "One of my friends gave me a call this morning, and she wanted me to go check, because they're really good friends with him, so we went out there, and they had just pulled him out of the house, and he was laying on the ground."

When firefighters got called out to the scene, everyone had made it out of the house safely. By the time they got here, the man had gone back inside. Firefighters found the man right inside the front door.

Now, investigators are sending out a heavy warning. Assistant state fire marshal Jason Baltic said, "Get out and stay out, don't go back in, don't try to go back in, don't attempt to."

Spence fire chief Rob Miller said, "Nothing inside is worth your life. People just don't realize, they think, 'Well I just came out of that house, the smoke is not really that bad,' and they step maybe just in the front door,and we found the victim just inside the front door, just inside the front door."

Shaken up neighbors are remembering 54-year-old Lewis Fields. "He always stopped to ask you how you were doing, he'd always ask if you needed your grass mowed, if there was anything they could do, if he could run to the store for you he would gladly go, he would do anything for anybody. He will be deeply missed," said Looney.

A lady who is thought to be Fields' girlfriend made it out of the house safely.
Firefighters say it was an old house that went up quickly. Multiple crews were on the scene for several hours putting out hot spots. The state fire marshal is investigating. There's no word yet on a cause.