A fire in Vicksburg early Friday morning killed a man who had reportedly barricaded himself in the home to avoid being arrested.

According to Vicksburg Fire Chief Craig Danczyk, units were dispatched to a structure fire on the 1200 block of 2nd North at 1:30 a.m.

“The police department was already on the scene when our units responded,” Danczyk said. “Apparently, the gentleman had barricaded himself inside the home. When officers attempted to make entry, shots were fired.”

Danczyk said officers reported three shots were fired, leading officers to take a defensive position. Fire units, instead of arriving directly on the scene, staged a block away due to safety concerns.

When smoke began to appear from the home, fire units were called in. Once they arrived, flames were visible.

Danczyk said despite the department’s efforts, the home was a total loss and the individual who had barricaded himself in the home was killed.

“Since there was a fatality, we did call in our fire investigator, Leslie Sanders, and State Fire Marshal Investigator Kayla Riggs, who took evidence,” he said. “They will be doing additional investigation at the scene at daylight.”

As for the home, Danczyk said there were “quite a bit of contents” in the home and that pets in the home did survive. He also said responding units were able to keep the neighboring home from receiving any damage.

“Fortunately, no police officers of fire personnel were injured,” he said.

Information on the individual killed in the fire, nor the reason why police were attempting to take him into custody, has been released.