PARMA, OH (WOIO) –

The man killed in an early morning house fire in Parma on October 5 has been identified.

58-year old Karl Berger didn’t make it out of the home he owned on Bavaria Avenue. 

Tracie Jeffery shot cell phonevideo of the fire from right outside her home. 

Thehouse that was on fire is her neighbor’s house. They shared a backyard.

“It was hot. I walked out my side door, and it was like an oven right in front ofyour face.  It was crazy,” describedTracie Jeffery.

Police woke up Jeffery and her family because their homewas just steps away from the fire.  

“All I know is I got woke up by the cops to ask usto move our vehicles out of the driveway, come out and there was flames comingfrom the house behind us.  They just cameout and asked us questions, if we knew the guy and told him what room was his -it was crazy,” added Jeffery.

Berger lived inside the modest, two-story home with hiscat, according to neighbors. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out alive.  He was found in the second floor bathroom.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, they said therewas a lot of smoke and flames coming from the second story of the house.

Fire Investigators worked for hours gathering evidenceand searching for a cause. 

Meanwhile, those who live right next to the damaged,burnt-out home, struggled to make sense of it all. 

“We knew him. He was a good guy, got along with him. He always played with our dogs when we had them in our pen in the back.He was just a really good guy.  It’s sadto see he didn’t make it out.  He’s goingto be missed,” says Allen Jeffery. 

A spokesperson for the Parma Fire Department said hewasn’t sure whether the cat made it out alive or not.

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