UPDATE: Investigation Indicates Urbandale Man Died in House Fire He Started Intentionally

Urbandale had its first fatal house fire in at least 14 years Saturday morning, and police say indications are that the man who died intentionally started the fire himself.

The death occurred at 8041 Dellwood Drive, according to Urbandale police spokesman Randy Peterson. Officials are not releasing any information about the victim, pending notification of family members.

"All indications point to the deceased person had intentionally started the fire," said a release from the Urbandale Police Department.

Urbandale Fire Chief Jerry Holt said authorities don't yet know the cause of the fire, but it began in the basement and went up the walls, a very common way for fire to spread. Although the exterior of the home looked unscathed, he said there was extensive damage inside the home, from the basement to the second story.

Holt said a preliminary damage estimate is $110,000 to $115,000.

He said someone from the home called the fire department Saturday at about 7:30 a.m. and officials sounded three alarms, summoning fire departments from Windsor Heights, Clive, West Des Moines, Johnston and Saylor Township.

Holt said there have been three fire deaths as the result of car accidents since he's been chief, but this is the first death in a house fire since he took the job 14 years ago.

Dan Smith, who lives next door at 8035 Dellwood Drive, said the home was occupied by a family with children. He said the mother and children made it out of the home, but that it appeared that the father died in the fire.

He said neighbors watched as smoke poured out of windows and the roof, and firefighters donned oxygen masks to enter the building.

Holt said the house, which was built in 1992, might have shown more damage on the outside and might have had floors collapse if it had been built within the past three to four years. But because the home was built with real wood beams, those take longer to burn, up to 25 to 30 minutes, as opposed to engineered lumber used in modern construction which can burn through in 5 to 10 minutes, he said.

Police and fire officials did not expect to name the victim or announce a cause of death before Monday.

An autopsy will be performed to determine a cause of death.