Neptune House Fire Probe Intensifies, Autopsy Results Pending

An entire Neptune neighborhood is evacuated as a probe of an early morning house fire involving a death intensifies.A man's body was found inside the home in the Shark River Hills section that erupted in flames around 4 AM. A woman managed to flee the dwelling unscathed. Firefighters from the township and three surrounding communities knocked the blaze down.

Charles Webster at the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office says that the evacuation of the block surrounding 121 The Plaza was precautionary after investigators discovered firearms in the house.

According to Webster, officers at the scene described the dead man as an "avid hunter." Investigators opted to clear the area in case live ammunition or more weapons were stored in the home.

They're withholding his identity, and that of the woman who survived, pending results of an autopsy later today.

Webster says that the autopsy will also determine whether the victim was dead before or after the conflagration broke out, as well as the cause and manner of death.