Kilgore House Fire Under Investigation

KILGORE — Authorities are investigating a Christmas morning fire that left a 39-year-old Kilgore man dead. Kilgore firefighters were dispatched to the 3600 block of Sycamore Street around 8:15 a.m. in connection with a residential structure fire, police spokesman Roman Roberson said. Roberson said Allen McGee was found dead in one of the rooms in the residence. He was pronounced dead at the scene. “After the fire was extinguished, firefighters discovered the resident,” he said. When firefighters arrived, half of the double-wide mobile home was engulfed in flames.

Gregg County Fire Marshal David Kidder, who was called to assist the Kilgore Fire Marshal’s Office, said in the investigation they didn’t see “any signs of a working smoke detector.” McGee’s body was sent for autopsy to confirm a cause of death, but Roberson said the initial investigation determined that he “succumbed to smoke and heat from the fire.”

While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, fire officials said they believe the fire was unintentional.

Services for Allen Harrison McGee 39, of Kilgore are scheduled for 10:00 Friday morning at Rader Funeral Home Chapel in Kilgore. Burial will follow Walnut Grove Cemetery in Garrison, Texas. McGee was a DJ at 96X in Tyler.