By Joe Johnson
The person who died in a vehicle fire Saturday night was tentatively identified by police as Ricky Brown, 52, of Athens.
According to an Athens-Clarke County police report, Brown was known to stay in a van that was parked near a residence at 2345 Danielsville Road and when the vehicle caught on fire.
The police report listed Brown as having an address on Turner Court.
A resident of the house told a police officer that “Brown is very frequently in the van and it is likely he was asleep in there,” according to the police report.
"Investigators believe the fire to have originated in the vehicle and have no evidence of foul play at this time,” the Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services Department said in a Sunday morning media release. “The deceased person was transported to the GBI Crime Lab for cause of death and positive identification.”
Firefighters were dispatched to the vehicle fire at 10:52 p.m., and upon arrival they found the van was engulfed in flames and that the fire had spread to the nearby residence, according to the release.
After the fires at the residence and van were extinguished, a man’s body was found inside the burned vehicle, according to the report.