Man found dead in Newman apartment fire

Fire investigators were trying to determine Tuesday the cause of a Newman apartment fire that left one man dead.

Firefighters were called to a three-unit, single-story apartment building at 1917 Pine Street at 4:30 a.m. Monday on a report of a potential structure fire.

The incident was upgraded to a working structure fire when the first crew arrived to find heavy fire and smoke coming from the attic of the center unit.

There was a report of someone inside the center unit.

Newman police Lt. Brett Short said police Officer Ron Singh, who was first on scene, tried to make contact with the man by breaking out a bedroom window with his baton.

The man’s body was found after the fire was extinguished when crews were doing salvage and overhaul operations, according to Newman Fire Department Capt. Keith Bowen.

He was identified Tuesday as 67-year-old Jeffery Mohr, who lived in the apartment.

An autopsy was completed, but a cause of death was not determined, according to the Stanislaus County Coroner’s Office.

Short said Mohr’s death does not appear to have been the result of a criminal act.

Modesto fire spokeswoman Jessica Smart said that while the cause of the fire is not considered suspicious, material from the scene was sent to the U.S. Department of Justice lab in Ripon for forensic testing.

“Due to there being a fatality, investigators send out materials for testing to rule in or rule out various types of causes or to confirm what they believe to be the cause,” Smart said.

The fire damage was mostly isolated to the apartment of origin, but six people who lived in the two adjoining apartments will be temporarily displaced because their apartments had smoke damage and utilities were cut.

She said the fire started in the living room of the center apartment. It caused an estimated $82,000 in damage.

The West Stanislaus Fire Protection District and Gustine Fire Department, totaling 16 personnel, helped battle the blaze.

This story was originally published September 22, 2015 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Man found dead in Newman apartment fire."