CENTER POINT, Alabama — An occupant of Center Point home was heading out of a burning home, but died after deciding to go back to a bedroom to retrieve something, authorities said.
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said the fire happened shortly before 10 p.m. Monday in the town outside Birmingham.
A resident who escaped the fire told deputies he had been in the basement watching television when he heard a popping sound from upstairs. He then discovered the kitchen was on fire. He woke his friend, who had been sleeping on a couch in the living room, and told him the house was on fire and they needed to get out.
"As they started to the door the friend turned, saying he had to get something from the bedroom and went back," the sheriff's office said in a statement. "The resident left the house and did not see his friend again."
The victim's body was discovered on the bedroom floor, authorities said. His name was not immediately released.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but sheriff's officials it is believed that food left cooking on the stove started the blaze.
No one else had been inside the residence, authorities said.
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