Man takes his life as firefighters battle blaze at his home

By Bill Miller in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Fort Worth firefighters battling an east-side arson blaze Sunday also had to treat the victim of what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but the man could not be saved. Firefighters were called at 7:48 p.m. Sunday to the Meadowbrook-area home in the 2600 block of Janice Lane, said Tim Hardeman, fire department spokesman.

The name of the man, who lived at the home, was being withheld Monday until officials were sure that his relatives had been notified, said Linda Anderson, spokeswoman for the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office.

“He was across the street,” Hardeman said. “But as fire crews arrived on scene, witnesses said they saw (the man) shoot himself with a shotgun.”

At that moment, firefighters were on the other side of the house, Hardeman said. They did not know a shot had been fired until neighbors came and told them, he said.

“They were busy fighting the fire,” Hardeman said. “There was a lot of noise going on and they didn’t see it.”

Arson investigators determined that the fire was set on purpose, although Hardeman did not know what evidence showed that, or who actually set the fire, he said. Hardeman noted, however, that damage to the house and its contents was about $47,500.