Jackson man killed after vehicle inside garage catches fire

JACKSON (WITI) -- An 88-year-old Jackson man was killed while inside a garage with his car, which caught on fire. The incident could have been weather-related, but at this point, it's hard to tell.

The Jackson farm house on Maple Road near Mill Road got a lot of attention on Tuesday morning, January 7th for a very tragic reason. What began as a reported car or structure fire turned deadly.

"There was a deceased male that was found at the scene and we got to do some more investigating before we can find out exactly the cause and manner (of death)," Washington County Sheriff's Lt. Bob Konstanz said.

Investigators say the man lived in the home, and was in his mid-80s.

Lt. Konstanz says the garage was not on fire, but the vehicle inside was.

"From what I understand, the wife said that he had gone outside to start the vehicle -- get the motor vehicle started and I don't know how long time passed -- but at some point in time, she noticed that he wasn't coming back in and noticed that there was smoke coming out of the structure outside," Lt. Konstanz said.

Lt. Konstanz says several fire departments responded to the fire and put it out quickly.

At this point, a lot of questions remain, and investigators are hopeful an autopsy will reveal some answers.

"We have fire investigation personnel on the scene yet to try to figure out what exactly it was that caused the fire," Lt. Konstanz said.

Lt. Konstanz says it's hard to tell at this point whether this incident was weather-related. We saw temperatures around -12 or -13 degrees Monday night -- with wind chills at -35 to -40 in southeastern Wisconsin.

Lt. Konstanz says the investigation into this incident is ongoing.