A man died in a fatal house fire in Aberdeen on Thursday morning.

The Aberdeen Fire Department responded at 8 a.m. Thursday to the structure fire in the 600 block of East 2nd Street, according to a press release from the department. After knocking down the fire, fire crews made entry and found a deceased occupant.

The deceased person has been identified as 53-year-old Lee Spencer Mort, according to the Grays Harbor Coroner’s Office, which added that the cause of death was asphyxia due to smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning. The manner of death was accidental, the coroner’s office noted.

At approximately 10:30 a.m., one man on the sidewalk told The Daily World he was in his room on the second floor of the house when he noticed smoke.

“I looked out the door and saw smoke come barreling from up through the floor,” the man said, noting that he and a couple others had purchased the house and moved in just a few days ago.

The man wasn’t sure what started the fire, but he suspects it could have been candles on the first floor.

“I didn’t have candles burning, but down below I’m pretty sure they had some in one of the rooms, and that’s where the fire started,” he said.

The man said there were five people inside the house including Mort when the fire happened, and that the four others made it out OK.

It took 26 firefighters responding in one command unit, four fire engines, one ladder truck, three medic units and two chief officers just over an hour to bring the fire under control. One firefighter suffered a shoulder injury while working to extinguish this fire.

The structure, which was built in 1901, was valued at $10,194 and is a total loss, the fire department said. The neighboring house received approximately $1,000 in damage.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Aberdeen Police and Fire Departments.