A report of smoke in the area of Raben Tire early Thursday morning led firefighters to the discovery of a man inside his burning car following an apparent vehicle crash.
"It came in as smoke in the area, and they advised it was a vehicle fire," said police Cpl. Shonna Grobe, who indicated firefighters arrived at 8:16 a.m. after the call came in from Raben Tire personnel.
Upon firefighters' arrival, they found the "whole vehicle, the engine compartment and the vehicle (passenger) compartment itself" on fire, said fire Chief Ralph Stucker.
"While they were putting the fire out, when hit with the hose line, it shifted the smoke, and they could see the body in there," Stucker explained. "The passenger and engine compartments had heavy fire coming out of it," but it did not take long for firefighters to extinguish the blaze.
When the firefighters saw "what they had, they notified dispatch to get the PD up here," Stucker said.
Patrol officers, as well as police detectives, responded to the scene and began processing the area.
Based on skids marks in the back parking lot of St. Andrew Lutheran Church, it appeared the silver passenger car accelerated over a curb and through a grassy area before going up an embankment into the wooded area behind Raben Tire.
"Everything looks like something medical happened," which led to the crash, said police Deputy Chief Donnie Trout.
Butler County Deputy Coroner Brien Fugate said it was "way too early to have anything right now" other than it is a "car crash that caught fire."
Stucker said investigator(s) with the Missouri State Fire Marshal's Office had been requested and were en route to the scene.
"They are going to come in because it's a fatality with a fire," Stucker said. "They will help assess the vehicle. (The fire) may have just been a result of the accident."
Stucker said the car did hit a tree, "but right now, we don't know what caused the fire to start."
Fugate said police officers were working to confirm the identity of the male driver, who he had pronounced dead at about 9:05 a.m. His identify had not been confirmed by press time.
"We will do an autopsy, obviously," said Fugate who was "conversing" with Butler County Coroner Andy Moore about scheduling one as he awaited the arrival of fire investigator(s).
There is "not a time on that yet," he said.