1 dead, 1 hurt in Richland house fire

A man died in a home fire Monday in the Richland Wye.

The Benton County Coroner's Office said the elderly man was inside the small, burning home on 1300 block of Dakota Avenue in Richland.

People saw flames and smoke coming from house, said Richland Fire Chief Tom Huntington.

A neighbor tried to rescue the man inside the home, but smoke and flames forced him back.

Fire filled the doorway and slowed firefighters. The back door was blocked from the inside.

Huntington wasn't sure what was blocking the rear door.

"They had to actually knock down the fire to get to the occupant who was inside near the kitchen," he said. "It was the only way in or out of the house."

Firefighters got the fire under control within 15 minutes, and were performing CPR on the home's occupant for several minutes. They were still attempting to resuscitate him as he was brought to the ambulance.

He later died, the coroner's office said.

The man who braved the flames was treated for smoke inhalation and taken to a hospital.

The cause of the fire is unknown. The blaze consumed much of the inside of the house.

This story was originally published April 16, 2018 at 4:23 PM with the headline "1 dead, 1 hurt in Richland house fire."