Northeast Philly man finds a burning body in a neighbor’s driveway at 3 a.m.: ‘I got terrified’
Authorities found a gas can and spent matches near the body of the man whose body was burned, police said.
The bright flashes of a roaring, early morning fire jolted a Rhawnhurst man awake early Tuesday morning as it blazed outside his Leonard Street home.
As he rushed to the window, he saw flames rising next door and was worried that the fire would spread to his home on the 8000 block of Leonard Street, where he has lived for only a few months.
He called 911, rushed outside, and came upon a horrifying sight: A man’s body was burning in the driveway of the house next door.
“I got terrified,” the man said later Tuesday morning. “I just ran away.”
Firefighters and law enforcement officials continue to investigate the blaze that broke out around 3 a.m. outside the Rhawnhurst home, which neighbors said had been vacant for years.
The victim, whom police did not identify, was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:23 a.m., said Deputy Police Commissioner Frank Vanore.
Firefighters and other first responders arrived and quickly extinguished the fire, he said. A gas can and spent matches were found near the man’s body, he said. The neighbor who called 911, who asked not to be identified out of fear for his safety, said he saw two gas cans still on fire when he came upon the body.
The scene of the fire was quiet later Tuesday morning, though the smell of gasoline lingered in the air. Police had cordoned off the driveway, and workers from the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspections were on the scene but declined to comment.
Police said they do not know whether the man was killed before he was set aflame or whether he might have set himself ablaze. The city’s fire marshal’s office, medical examiner’s office, and police are investigating.