Name of victim released in west Wichita garage fire; cause still under investigation

Update Friday:

Dennis Valentine, 54, was the man who died after being found unresponsive in a west Wichita garage fire, Wichita Fire Department Capt. Kelly Zane said Friday.

Zane said Valentine was performing work at the home when the fire started. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

“We don’t have any reason to believe foul play was involved,” Zane said.

Original Thursday:

A man died after being found unresponsive in a west Wichita garage fire Thursday morning, Wichita Fire Marshal Stuart Bevis said.

First responders were called at 7:34 a.m. to the 4100 block of West Douglas and found smoke coming from a detached garage. When firefighters entered the garage, they saw flames and a large number of items inside, Bevis said.

As firefighters started moving the items, they found the man, who was unresponsive. He was removed from the burning garage and given medical treatment, but pronounced dead shortly after.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

“We won’t call it a fire fatality until we have confirmation from the autopsy,” Bevis said.

Wichita has had two fire deaths this year, he said.

This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 11:03 AM.