Arlington man who helped evacuate home dies in fire possibly started in Christmas tree

A house fire on Christmas morning killed an Arlington man and displaced three adults and two children, officials said Wednesday.

The man who died was "instrumental" in alerting everyone in the house of the fire and helping evacuate the house, according to a Fire Department news release.

The fire started in or near the Christmas tree at the home in the 5300 block of Carpenter Drive in southeast Arlington.

Fire crews arrived at the home about 4:20 a.m. and found Eric Chambers, 36, unresponsive outside the home, the news release said. Chambers was taken to Medical City Arlington hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:25 a.m., according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office.

No other injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was still under investigation Wednesday.

Ryan Osborne: 817-390-7684; Twitter: @RyanOsborneFWST

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 1:56 PM with the headline "Arlington man who helped evacuate home dies in fire possibly started in Christmas tree."