'Suspicious' House Fire Kills Man And His Beloved Dog

A fire that has been deemed "suspicious" took the life of a man and his beloved dog in Seal Beach early this morning.

According to the Orange County Fire Authority's Twitter, a fire was reported at 12:15 a.m. Saturday in a duplex on the 200 block of 17th Street in Seal Beach.

City News Service reports around 60 firefighters from the OCFA and Huntington Beach were on the scene, and found a man dead on the second floor as they were fighting the blaze. His dog was also found near him. The fire was declared under control by 1:30 a.m., an hour after the fire was reported. Three other people who live in the downstairs apartment of the duplex were able to safely exit the building.

OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi told City News Service that investigators "have determined the fire was suspicious in nature."

Carlos Huerta with the OCFA told the L.A. Times that it was difficult to extinguish the fire "because of the amount of debris in the residence."

One neighbor described the man, who has not been identified yet by police, as "nice" but also said he was "a hoarder."

This description of the man and his dog from the Times report is sweet, and very sad, in case you needed a good cry today: