JACKSONVILLE, Fla — An early morning fire turned deadly.
“We were woken by a bam and it kept bamming in the back of our house,” said neighbor Tanggie Hurley. “My niece had run outside and she was telling us that Rocco’s house was on fire.”
Tanggie hurley lives right next door to the home on West Fifth Street that JFRD responded to Sunday morning.
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When firefighters arrived, they found one person inside.
“The one person has perished in this fire sadly,” said JFRD Cap. Eric Prosswimmer.
While officials have not confirmed the name of that person, neighbors referred to their neighbor as ‘Rocco’.
“He was neighborhood friendly, helped anybody like all we did was call Rocco and he’ll sit right there in his chair by the window, and he would do anything for anybody,” said Hurley.
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Samuel Bentley lives a couple of doors down and he said he would visit his friend once a week.
“From friend to friend, he was just a wonderful guy, and I’m going to miss him,” said Bentley.
As the State Fire Marshell is further investigating what caused the fire, neighbors are grieving a loss and remembering a friend.
“I send prayers to him and his family,” said Bentley.
“My heart goes out to his family because he was a very nice guy,” said Hurley.
Related read: One person dead from a house fire on the Westside
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