CINCINNATI — Cincinnati police are investigating after Cincinnati Fire Department crews discovered a body while putting out an outdoor fire in Clifton Sunday evening.
Fire crews responded to reports of a fire behind a detached garage in the 200 block of Senator Place at 7:49 p.m., according to a press release from the Cincinnati Fire Department.
CFD said when crews arrived, they found a small brush fire behind a garage on the property.
Stephen Holler, who lives in an apartment behind the property where the fire broke out, told us he saw the whole thing.
"There was flames, huge flames," Holler said.
Watch to hear a neighbor's story on what he saw and heard:
Holler said he heard concerning sounds even before those flames.
"There was loud screaming and yelling for a few minutes," Holler said.
But he said something else followed the shouting.
"I looked out my back window and suddenly there was a shot," Holler said.
While extinguishing the flames, firefighters discovered a body nearby that had received significant burns, according to the release.
Here's what we know so far and what we're working to find out:
Neither fire nor police have released any information on how the person died, or who they were.
The Hamilton County Coroner's Office was also on the scene Sunday night. Monday morning, the coroner's report listed an unknown man who died Nov. 16. The circumstances of his death listed him as "burn victim," but had no further information on his age or identity.
Holler said that as the fire spread, he and his neighbor moved cars away from their garage, which is up against a fence near the fire.
"Believe it or not, I was worried about this house because there’s a lot of leaves here. And I'm a retired professor, and I have a huge library upstairs, and that is my life," Holler said.
Both the Cincinnati Fire Department's Fire Investigative Unit and the Cincinnati Police Department's Homicide Unit are investigating the incident.
