Investigators Believe Sunrise House Fires Are Connected

Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter

SUNRISE (CBSMiami) – Investigators believe two house fires that broke out in Sunrise Thursday are connected.

It all started at a home near Sunset Strip and Hiatus Road.

Massive flames shot up from the garage, catching the attention of neighbor Steve Danico.

"I was in my backyard and saw some smoke coming up over the fence over the houses," Danico explained.

Danico noticed there was trouble and ran to help as smoke poured from the home.

That's when he came across an upset woman in the front yard who was pleading for help.

"My son is in there and somebody needs to go try and help, try and help," Danico recalled.

That's when we raced to the backyard.

"So I quickly ran around the back and there was some people over there spraying water in the house," Danico said. "The whole place was engulfed. It was too much for anybody to go inside.

Firefighters found a man dead inside.

There's a twist to this one. Not far away, another fire broke out in the 4100 block of 118th Terrace. Both homes are owned by the same person.

"I heard an explosion, I ran around the front of the house, making sure no one was inside," said Scott Yourt. "The flames already engulfed the house."

Yourt lives right behind the home. He said it's that explosion that caught his attention.

"It was fully engulfed. There were explosions and there were things popping back inside," said Yourt.

Fire investigators say it appears the fires are related.

"It's under investigation. We have the state fire marshal at this point coming in.  We have our arson investigators coming in right now," said Sunrise Fire Rescue Deputy Fire Chief Todd Draizin.