The man found dead after a fire engulfed his mobile home in Charles County, Maryland, has been identified.
A passerby spotted the fire on the 1700 block of Marshall Hall Road in Bryans Road about 5:40 a.m. and called 911.
Maurice Hopkins, a neighbor, was headed out to tend his sheep when he spotted the fire, which reached higher than nearby tree tops.
“The flame was out of control,” he told News4. “He didn’t have a chance.”
When firefighters arrived, the mobile home was engulfed in flames. They rushed inside and found 53-year-old Duane Crispell and his dog unresponsive near the door.
Both Crispell and his dog died in the fire.
Crispell was the caretaker for the animals at the property, according to the fire marshal's office.
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Fire investigators said the fire appears accidental, and was sparked by an overloaded electrical circuits. There were also hoarding conditions in the home, investigators said.
According to the fire marshal, the smoke alarm in the mobile home had no battery.
Elsewhere in Charles County, 56-year-old Patricia Mahoney died in a separate fire at a mobile home on Goldie Farm Place in Waldorf, fire officials said.
According to fire officials Mahoney was paralyzed and unable to get out of her home.
The fire started about 3:30 p.m. and was caused by smoking materials.
