West Palm Beach house fire, man dies

WEST PALM BEACH — One person is dead after a fire in the Bear Island community just west of Interstate 95 in West Palm Beach.

West Palm Beach firefighters were dispatched at about 8 a.m. today to the 1500 block of Bear Island Drive to reports of smoke coming from a house. The responding fire-rescue crews found heavy smoke which brought visibility to zero inside the home, according to preliminary reports.

By 8:19 a.m., crews were reporting that the fire was in the kitchen and under control.

It was initially reported that an elderly woman was taken out of the home by rescue crews.

West Palm Beach police now say the victim was a man. He was in the kitchen when he may have suffered a heart attack and the kitchen caught fire.

He was later pronounced dead. It is not clear if he died from the heart attack or smoke inhalation.

Mock military weapons were found in the home's garage, but posed no danger, police said.

The Palm Beach Post contributed to this report.