One person found dead in crawl space after Gastonia fire

One person was found dead in the crawl space of a Gastonia building after a fire, Gastonia Fire officials said Sunday.

Firefighters saw some smoke coming from the rear of a one-story commercial building at 208 South Oakland Street when they responded to a reported fire at about 4:15 p.m. Saturday, officials said.

Firefighters quickly extinguished a small fire in the building’s crawl space, but then they found a body in the crawl space. The Gastonia Police Department is now investigating.

The building has been vacant for more than a year, officials said.

Citing the owner of a neighboring business, local TV station Spectrum News Charlotte reported that some people seemed to be squatting at 208 South Oakland Street building.

Officials have not yet identified the person found in the crawl space.

This story was originally published December 3, 2017 at 10:33 AM with the headline "One person found dead in crawl space after Gastonia fire."