Delaware State News
DOVER — The bodies of a man and a woman were found following a fire Thursday morning at a Dover residence.
Firefighters had to cut through boards covering the windows on the inside to get into the house and battle the blaze, witnesses said.
Delaware State Police spokesman Sgt. Joshua A. Bushweller said evidence found inside the residence in the 400 block of David Hall Road in Rodney Village could suggest that a crime was committed prior to the fire.
"When the fire was put out, there was evidence discovered in the home," he said. "We’re conducting an investigation into the deaths."
Sgt. Bushweller said a married couple, a 61-year-old man and a 69-year-old woman, were found dead inside the home. Their identities are being withheld until next of kin can be notified.
The 61-year-old male resident of the home and his 69-year-old wife were known to be very reclusive, said neighbors.
Many didn’t even realize a woman was living in the home.
Fire crews from the Camden-Wyoming and Magnolia fire companies said they responded to the fire around 4:30 a.m. after a neighbor reported smoke and flames coming out of a basement window.
When crews arrived, the home was fully involved in flames.
The state police, the police explosive ordnance disposal team and the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s hazardous waste removal crew responded shortly after.
Neighbors said fire crews had to cut through wood paneling attached to the insides of nearly all of the home’s windows to enter the premises.
Fire crews also cut through the roof of the home.
After extinguishing the fire, authorities discovered the bodies.
The State Medical Examiner’s Office took custody of the bodies. Autopsies to determine the cause and manner of the deaths are planned for this morning.
Neighbors were shocked to wake up to the event unfolding nearby.
Luther Puckett lives next door to the property. He said he became aware of the situation around 4:15 a.m. when he heard banging on his door.
A neighbor was there when he answered. She informed him his neighbor’s house was on fire.
"The smoke was just billowing. You could see the fire in the basement window," Mr. Puckett said.
His residence is only about 10 to 15 feet away from the house on fire and he was worried the flames would spread to his property, so he ran inside to wake his wife and brother.
Mr. Puckett said by the time the three emerged from the home, fire trucks were already pulling up the street.
Other neighbors said they were awakened by sirens as fire trucks came up the street.
"There were so many lights from the trucks, it almost seemed like daylight," said Mike Billings, who lives across the street from the home under investigation.
"I’ve never seen so many fire trucks, ever, anywhere," said Debbie Easham, who lives down the street.
Mr. Puckett said firefighters initially tried to break through the large picture window in the front of the home but found wood barricades behind the glass. As fire crews continued to try other windows, they found the same situation.
"All of the windows were boarded up," Mr. Puckett said.
Finally, fire crews found a basement window without wood behind it. Mr. Puckett and other neighbors said firefighters brought out chainsaws to cut through the other boarded windows in the house.
In about 30 to 40 minutes the fire was out, Mr. Puckett said.
Mr. Puckett said that after the fire was extinguished, his family and the occupants of the house on the other side of the burned home were asked to leave their homes for a brief period, as authorities sent what appeared to be a bomb-detection robot up to the property.
"When you start to see robots coming out, you know something is not right," said another neighbor, Paula Perrera. "I just have never seen anything like this."
Mr. Puckett said they were quickly told it was safe to re-enter their homes.
Neighbors described the deceased man and woman as reclusive. Many did not even know a woman was living in the home.
Mr. Puckett said his relationship with his next-door-neighbor was limited and not amicable.
The man took out all the rose bushes and trees in his own yard when he moved into the house about five years ago, said neighbors.
Mr. Puckett said plants in his yard and other yards surrounding the burned home mysteriously wound up dead shortly after that.
Sgt. Bushweller said the investigation is continuing.
