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Man Dead After Fire Breaks Out In Colorado Springs Home

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (CBS4/AP) — Colorado Springs police have lifted evacuation orders for houses in a neighborhood where a man was found dead after crews responded to a house fire.

Authorities say they were concerned about possible explosives after someone called 911 at 8 a.m. and threatened to take their own life before the fire started. Police said the man said there were bombs inside the home but no explosives were found at the location, which is in the 2400 block of Tahoe Boulevard.

Fire chief Chris Riley says the dead man was found Thursday morning outside the house, but officials are not sure how he died. Authorities said the man did not die in the fire, but they said gunshots were heard while the structure was burning.

The man's name has not been released pending an autopsy.

The man who called 911 said he was about 80 years old. He said in his emergency call he couldn't afford to pay his bills anymore on Social Security, that he was being evicted from his house and that he didn't have any family.

He said he was going to burn his house down and take his own life and that it would be all gone by the time first responders got there.

A short time before emergency crews arrived, neighbor Gloria Rahmings said she encountered the man, whose name -- she says -- was Peter.

"When I could see the flames from my window right here coming out this far and the smoke, I said 'Somebody's in there.' So I ran up to there and the guy, Peter, said 'Don't go in there.' "

Rahmings said she was concerned about her neighbors when the fire started.

Jeffrey Carlson, another neighbor, said he saw the man before the fire got going.

"My neighbor was standing in between his house and my fence and as soon as I got to the front of the car to run up to the house, he told me I'd better get the hell out of there, kind of ominously," he told CBS4

Carlson said at that point he grabbed what personal possessions he could and left the area.

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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