By ALEXANDER SIMONE

Staff writer

A house fire killed one man Tuesday in the 200 block of North Cedar St. in Marion.

The victim’s cause of death and identity are still being confirmed.

Many deaths in fires are caused by suffocation, said Hillsboro fire chief Ben Steketee, who shared command with Marion fire chief Preston Williams.

The fire was reported at 2:54 p.m. when someone passing by saw flames and called 9-1-1.

At 3:09 p.m., it was reported that there was a person inside the house who needed rescue.

Cause of the blaze was unknown but under investigation by a fire marshal on scene, Steketee said.

Neighbor Olivia Calam said someone knocking on the door woke her up, which allowed her to leave her house before the fire spread.

“I was sleeping on the couch and they were just yelling my name to come out,” she said while receiving hugs from neighbors.

Firefighters were on the way by the time Calam got her two-year-old daughter out of the house, she said.

Calam said her husband was working at the time, so he was not home.

Firefighters at the scene included those from Marion, Hillsboro, Florence, and Lincolnville.

While part of the house was severely burned, firefighters kept the fire from overtaking the second apartment.

“I can still see furniture and walls in the unit on the east side,” Steketee said. “The unit on the west suffered the most fire damage.”