St James, Jamaica— Police and fire personnel are now probing the circumstances in which an elderly man perished in a fire in Mount Carey, St James on Friday morning.

The dead man has been identified as 85-year-old Frederick Inerty of a Marl Road address in the community.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade reported that they received a call regarding a house fire about 3:33 am and responded with one unit from the Freeport Station in Montego Bay.

On arrival, they found a one-room structure completely ablaze.

During the extinguishing exercise, Inerty’s charred remains was found.

His untimely death has left the community in mourning.

Claudette Haughton, a relative of the deceased, told OBSERVER ONLINE that Inerty was well-loved by the community.

“He was very jovial, everybody in the community love him, young, old love him. Him give you a lot of joke when you see him,” she said.

She says no one expected that he would have died this way.

“To see him die that way is very heart-rending, sad, very sad,” she continued.

Inerty, who previously worked as a farmer, lived alone. However, despite his age, residents stated that he still managed quite well.

Fire investigators say it is still early to indicate the cause for the blaze.