By JENNIFER HORTON

A man who died in a fire at his home early Tuesday has been identified by authorities as Ricky Cassetty, 52.

The fire occurred at Cassetty’s home at 434 Moore Road in the Taylorsville Community. 

A fire destroyed a home located in the Taylorsville Community just after midnight early Tuesday morning. JOHN B. BRYAN / The Wilson Post

Authorities received a call about 12:30 a.m., Tuesday, reporting an alarm was going off in the area of Moore Road, said Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe.

Deputy Malvina Dye was on patrol nearby and drove down the road and saw smoke and flames coming from a home at 434 Moore Road.

“She found the house on fire,” he said, noting she tried to awaken neighbors for assistance and broke down a back door to gain entrance to see if anyone was home. Other deputies and Wilson Emergency Management Agency firefighters arrived on the scene and began battling the blaze.

Ashe said Dye found Cassetty lying unconscious on the floor of the living room.

“The house was fully engulfed,” Ashe noted, as Dye and others were able to pull the victim outside where they began CPR. Cassetty was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Because a fatality occurred, Ashe said, officials with the State Fire Marshal’s Office have been called to investigate. “There doesn’t appear to be anything suspicious” about the fire, he added.

“It’s a tragedy. The officer did a good job, the firefighters did a good job.”

WEMA Director John Jewell said units from Stations 1, 5, 6 and 8 responded to the scene. Battalion Chief Lee Bowling was among the first to arrive.

He described the home as a single-story, wood structure and noted the fire destroyed much of the residence. When firefighters arrived, he said, much of the fire was coming from the attic.

There was a hydrant in the yard of the home which firefighters used to battle the blaze. Jewell noted, however, they “had trouble with a good, sustained flow” of water from the hydrant.