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'He was a really good man': Neighbour says of man who died in Regina fire

Gloria Fox described her neighbour as a good man the entire neighbourhood knew and someone who would offer to help cut her lawn when her mower wasn't working.

"We're sure going to miss him," Fox said of the man who died in a house fire in Regina Saturday night.

Fox said the fire was going for some time when she saw firefighters going in through the rear of the house and emerge a short time later with someone wrapped up.

"I couldn't even recognize him. He was all black," Fox said. "I just started crying so much. ... He was already gone."

Fox said the block has changed and there is a heavy feeling in the air.

"It's so terrible. I just can't see him like — like our block, it's just gloomy, lonely," Fox said. "You can feel it. I feel it."

Fox watched as authorities battled the blaze, describing it as unlike anything she had ever seen. The smoke was so thick, nothing inside the house was visible, she said.

When firefighters broke windows, Fox said it was like a bomb went off as a big, dark cloud of smoke rushed through the broken glass.

"I felt so bad and I was hoping maybe he's not home," she recalled.

She said the man was brought out of the house at 11:30 p.m. and it was 2:30 a.m. when they moved his body.

Fox said authorities told her the man was 65 years old.

Authorities investigating

The fire on the 1700 block of Connaught Street was reported to police at about 11:30 p.m. CST.

Regina firefighters extinguished the fire and found a man with burns at the residence. Emergency medical workers attended to the man but he was confirmed to have died at the scene.

The Office of the Chief Coroner will investigate the circumstances surrounding the man's death.

Regina Fire and Protective Services are investigating the cause and origin of the fire. Police will investigate whether there was any criminal element to the blaze.

Police said the man's name would not be released at this time because his next-of-kin had not been notified.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Regina Police Service at 306-777-6500 or call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.