The caller said the garage was behind a house that had previously caught fire.
Dayton firefighters arrived on scene in four minutes and found a fully involved fire in a detached garage.
Crews worked to extinguish the fire and prevent damage to surrounding structures.
The garage was heavily damaged in the fire and mostly collapsed, said Dayton Assistant Fire Chief Brad French.
While putting out the last of the flames, firefighters found a deceased person in the debris.
Dayton Fire Department Fire Investigations Unit personnel called the Dayton Police Department and Montgomery County Coroner’s Office to respond. No other injuries were reported.
Charred debris was still smoking hours later.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Anyone with information should call the Dayton Fire Department Fire Investigations Unit at 937-333-TIPS (8477).
The home at 43 Victor Ave. was previously destroyed by fire. Most of the second story is gone.
Dayton Fire Department records indicate that two other vacant homes on Victor Avenue a couple of doors down caught fire in March 2023. Investigators ruled that a house fire at 31 Victor Ave. was deliberate.
That street and area have a lot of vacant and dilapidated homes and structures.
Before Friday, two people had already been killed by fires in Dayton this year, which was just one fewer fire death than in all of 2024.
The Dayton Fire Department responded to 109 fires last year involving vacant and idle structures. One of the people killed in fires last year was found in an abandoned home.
City officials have urged community members to report trespassing and other activities in and around vacant properties.
They say homeless individuals and trespassers risk injury and death when they hang out and sleep in vacant structures, especially when they use open flames for warmth, cooking and lights.
Some community members, including Lynn LaMance, have been highly critical of the city’s efforts to secure vacant properties that are at risk of fires.
She says she has reported many vacant and unsecured properties to the city, but they have not been boarded up.
She said she’s made lots of boarding requests on the city’s online customer service portal, Dayton Delivers, but no action was taken.
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