Lake Park man passes following early morning house fire

This story has been updated after authorities confirmed the victim's name and his passing after the fire.

Firefighters with the Lake Park Fire Department were able to initially rescue a man before a house fire consumed a home in the 300 block of Fifth Street in Lake Park early Thursday, July 13, but officials confirmed the man did not survive.

Lake Park Fire Chief Brandon Ehret confirmed the victim was 40-year-old Jesse Kilgore of Lake Park. A visitation will begin at 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 18 at Turner Jenness Funeral Home in Milford, according to online obituary information, and a memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 19 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Milford.

Ehret said crews were called to the scene around 1:12 a.m. Thursday after a neighbor noticed the blaze. Crews arrived and saw fire burning inside the house's living room — a converted garage space, according to Ehret.

"It had a big picture window in it that had blown out, and we had fire coming out of that real heavily," Ehret said. "We basically got coordinated to do the search and rescue. We sent crews in after that and, while they were in there, we were working on the room in the house and getting that (fire) knocked down."

Ehret said there was initially a question as to whether any children were present in the home, but authorities soon learned that was not the case. Firefighters searching inside the home found Kilgore in an area well away from the fire.

"We located the victim real quick, got him out, did CPR on him, got him in the ambulance and they took off with him," Ehret said. "Once we got the smoke ventilated out, we did do another primary search of the residence, and there was nobody else in there. Unfortunately, their dog did pass away."

Kilgore's obituary said he passed away at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as a result of the fire.

Ehret said officials with the State Fire Marshal's Office were on site Thursday morning, but the local fire chief said no definite cause of the fire had been determined at that point. He did note crews are largely certain the flames ignited somewhere inside the converted living room, but he said they can't pinpoint an exact source.

"That fire was contained to the living room, and it was spreading to the kitchen through a doorway," Ehret said. "There was no other fire in the house, but it was really hot. It melted smoke detectors off the ceiling in the house. The bedrooms and stuff had no fire damage. It was just getting close. Another five to 10 minutes would have been a lot different story. Thankfully, somebody was up and around that time of night and saw it or heard it."

Ehret estimated firefighters were on the scene for about 4.5 hours.

The Lake Park Police Department, Lake Park Ambulance, Lake Park Municipal Utilities, Lakes Regional Ambulance, the Dickinson County Sheriff's Office and the Milford Fire Department all assisted on scene.

Ehret expressed his thanks in particular for the fire truck and additional manpower sent from Milford on the early morning fire call. He said the Milford crew helped with ventilation as well as clean up and relieved Lake Park firefighters if and when they grew tired.

The Milford Fire Department also responded to second residential fire later the same morning in the 1000 block of L Avenue in Milford.