Man dies in duplex fire

A man died in a fire on the southeast end of 22nd Street in Coeur d'Alene Thursday night, officials said.

Kootenai County's central dispatch center received a call about 10:30 p.m., Coeur d'Alene Fire Department public information officer Craig Etherton said. After one of the duplex's occupants reported smelling smoke, she got up to investigate and found the other side of the unit on fire.

"From our dispatch notes, we did not know if anyone was inside or not, so we were aggressively offensive in our attack to knock the fire down," Etherton said. "The crews found the adult male and sent him by ambulance to Kootenai Health."

Despite first responders attempting to resuscitate the man, Etherton said he succumbed to his injuries shortly afterward. A coroner examination Friday will determine an official cause of death.

"They're doing a preliminary examination and determining a need for an autopsy, but right now, we're not sure why he wasn't able to evacuate himself," Etherton said.

The second occupant who called dispatch was evacuated safely with no injuries.

A preliminary investigation concluded the fire to be accidental. However, Etherton reported that there were no functioning smoke alarms within the structure. Further research is being done into the property to determine the property management of the converted barn. To Etherton's knowledge Friday morning, neither occupant was renting their separate units.

"I don't know when the barn was converted into an accessory dwelling unit, but general good practice is that if you are renting a living space, you provide smoke alarms for those residents," Etherton said.

The investigation also found that the duplex, which was still experiencing power outages, was being run by a generator found inside the complex's garage. That's a safety hazard Etherton said the area is all too familiar with, as generator exhaust contains carbon monoxide — a colorless, odorless gas — that can impair judgment, reaction time and severe health implications.

"It should've been outside. They could've had that thing running for over a day, we don't know. I think they had a window open, but that obviously was not evacuating enough of the carbon monoxide," Etherton said.

In a joint effort, the Coeur d'Alene Fire Department, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, Northern Lakes Fire Department and Coeur d'Alene Police Department responded to the fire.

CDAFD reminded all citizens to have working smoke alarms inside their residences and refrain from operating generators indoors where the exhaust can enter the structure.

"I just put out a Facebook warning about generators and keeping them away from openings because we know as power is out that people around here resort to generators," Etherton said. "One of the crews on scene had just responded earlier to a residence call that a generator exhaust was entering nearby doors and windows. We know it's always a problem."