1 dead in motorhome fire just east of Bakersfield

An investigation is underway to determine how a man died in a fire early Sunday morning in Ozark County.

Multiple fire departments responded to the blaze around 5:30 Sunday morning. When they arrived they could see smoke and there was a man trying to put out the flames with a water hose. This motor home is located on some property just off of Zastrow Drive, that is located just off of Highway 142, just east of Bakersfield.

The Bakersfield, Caulfield and Tecumseh Volunteer Fire Departments along with the Ozark County Sheriff's Office and the State Fire Marshal's Office responded to the call.

"Once we arrived on scene, there was a RV that had been turned into a personal home and there was a lot of smoke coming out of it," Bakersfield Firefighter Cameron Yeager said.

Yeager says it took nearly an hour to put out the blaze that neighbors and the landowner say claimed the life of a man in his early 60's.

The landowner says that the man had lived in the motor home for several years and described him as friendly, laid back and hard-working.

"There was a man outside with a water hose and he was helping put out the fire when we got there," Yeager told KY3.

Neighbors tell KY3 that the man's brother was the person fighting the flames as firefighters arrived.

Off camera, neighbors say they were devastated to learn he didn't make it out alive.

Yeager says the location of the fire made it difficult to fight.

"The location of it was a little difficult to get all the fire apparatus there. Then working so closely between the other campers that were there next to it, trying to have the right amount of space for us to get in."

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The man has not yet been identified.