A fatal house fire in Midtown has claimed the life of a man, with the Memphis Fire Department responding to an emergency call at 2606 Union Avenue Extended around 9:02 p.m. on Wednesday. Initial efforts by fire crews to rescue the man were swift but despite being rushed to Regional One’s burn unit in critical condition, he succumbed to smoke inhalation, as first reported by WREG.

The origin of the fire has been traced to an electrical malfunction within the home's carport area. The Memphis Fire Department has stated the fire resulted in significant damage with an estimated loss of $105,000 to the residence and a vehicle, and contents within the house were valued at a loss of $60,000, according to FOX13 Memphis.

Further details provided by Local Memphis include that the Memphis Fire Department pronounced the fire as accidental, and the status of working smoke detectors at the property at the time of the fire remains unknown.

The deceased, whose name has not yet been released, was the only reported casualty of the incident. Emergency crew worked tirelessly to manage the situation and an investigation into the specifics of the electrical malfunction is presumably underway though details of such have not been disclosed as the community grapples with the human cost of this tragedy.