Fire ripped through a Highland apartment just after midnight Wednesday, killing one man and displacing residents in two connecting apartments.

Firefighters found Larry Dickerson, 59, of 203 Quail Ridge Drive, dead inside his second-floor apartment shortly after responding to a 911 call.

According to Washington Fire Chief Robbie Rose, by the time the 911 call came in at around 12:30 a.m., Dickerson’s apartment had been burning for some time.

“The apartment itself was pretty much 100 percent involved. There was fire showing through the exterior openings in both front and back,” Rose said. “It was a very aggressive fire with heavy flame conditions.”

Firefighters from both Washington stations, backed up by Bunyan Fire Department, responded aggressively in an attempt to reach the interior of the apartment—dispatch had told officers that there was a possibility that someone was trapped in the apartment.

“There were actually flames coming out the front window, through the roof, the stairwell to the second-floor landing,” Rose described. “We pulled, opened up the nozzle on top the truck to try to knock down some of those flames.”

The building continued to burn as firefighters rushed in to find Dickerson already deceased, Rose said.

The fire is not considered suspicious, but the police have called on the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation to help determine the cause of the fire.

“Right now, we don’t have a specific, actual cause of the fire,” Rose explained. “We know the origin was in the living room area … There’s no suspicion of foul play connected with the death. You know, anytime there’s a fire death, we like to get a good look at it from all perspectives.”

Rose said the fire drew firefighters from both Washington stations, and the second alarm activated off-duty personnel, the closest rural volunteer department —Bunyan VFD — and upper command staff.

The apartment building, consisting of four apartments is being called a total loss and the American Red Cross is assisting fire survivors of two other apartments. A fourth apartment was vacant at the time of the fire, Rose said.