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Homeless Man Killed In Fire At Makeshift Shelter

Posted: 6:31 am EST December 8, 2008Updated: 6:51 am EST December 8, 2008

A homeless man trying to keep warm in a back yard shed was killed in a fire Sunday night.

The fire destroyed a single-room storage unit behind a home on Casa Loma Drive in DeKalb County.

The homeowners allowed the victim to sleep in the shed, according to Captain Eric Jackson of the DeKalb County Fire Department.

"We could actually see the flames before we pulled onto the street," said Jackson.

Investigators are trying to determine if the shed was up to code to allow someone to sleep there.

"It was 90 percent involved when we got there," said Jackson. "So we needed to get the flames out, left the smoke dissipate so we could see if there was plumbing back there, power going back there."

Neighbors said the victim, in his 60s, was known on the street by the name "Little Man."

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