A man who died in a McKinney house fire Wednesday has been identified as 44-year-old Michael Greer.
Firefighters found Greer dead inside the home in the 1000 block of Scenic Hills Drive, and the Collin County Medical Examiner determined Greer died of smoke inhalation.
Flames were seen shooting through the roof of the home just after 1:20 a.m., and the two-alarm blaze was so intense it spread to the house next door.
The flames were too hot, and the second floor was too unsafe, McKinney Assistant Fire Chief Tim Mock explained. "If there are certain areas of the house that are basically untenable, you save as much of the house as you can," he said.
Both homes were destroyed.
Kay Anthony, who lives in the house next door to where the fire started, said she lost most of her belongings in the fire.
"I don't know what we're going to do. It's going to be an uphill battle to get back into our house," she said. "I broke down in tears two or three times already."
Both fire and police investigators were on scene much of the morning, and the cause of the fire is still under investigation, as are the circumstances surrounding it.
McKinney police spokeswoman Ofc. Sabrina Boston confirmed police were called to an assault at a home nearby in the 1100 block of Scenic Hills Drive around 11 p.m. Tuesday just hours before the fire broke out.
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"We can confirm that a resident of 1016 Scenic Hills Drive, where the fire [happened] was involved in this assault, however, we have no evidence to support that the assault and the fire are related,” Boston said.
Boston also said a public intoxication arrest was made in the same neighborhood but couldn't elaborate on any possible connection to the assault or fire.
It's not clear if anyone else was at home when the fire started.
"Mike was a good man at heart," said neighbor Mark Vincent. "He had a lot of problems he was trying to overcome. He was trying to be a better person. He was a real nice guy. He had his problems like everybody else. He had his past. He was trying to leave his past alone and become a better person."
NBC 5's Todd L. Davis contributed to this report.
