Larimer County Coroner’s Office identifies man killed in Dec. 23 house fire

The Larimer County Coroner’s Office has identified Jesse Speker as the man killed in a late December Loveland house fire.

However, the coroner’s office said the cause and manner of death of the 25-year-old Loveland resident are pending a toxicology test, according to a post on the office website.

The Loveland Police Department dispatch center received a call for a structure fire in the 3100 block of Butternut Drive at 3:22 a.m. Dec. 23, according to previously released information; crews from the Loveland Fire Rescue Authority, Thompson Valley Emergency Medical Services and Berthoud Fire Protection District all responded with the LPD to the home.

LFRA said in a Facebook post at the time that the first arriving engine company found one unit of the duplex with heavy fire that extended into the attic. Additional crews arrived on scene and, with the use of hose lines, were able to bring the fire under control in 15 minutes.

One occupant was found dead while another was transported to a Denver hospital for treatment of severe burns, and a third was treated for smoke inhalation on scene, according to previously released information.

Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, LFRA, and the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office responded to determine the cause and origin of the fire. That has not yet been released, and LPD has not provided additional information on the incident.