A 37-year-old man died after he leaped from a second-story window to escape a house fire on the West Side Thursday night.

Joshua Vincent Blair struck the ground and he later died from head trauma at Mount Carmel West hospital, said Columbus fire Battalion Chief Steven Martin. His death is the first fire fatality in Columbus this year.

Blair and his mother were both inside the single family split level residence located in the 1600 block of Autumn Village Drive when the fire started.

His mother, who has not been identified, was doing laundry, Martin said. She was taking hot clothes out of the dryer and placing them into plastic bags.

"It is believed the heat from the clothes packed in like that started a small fire," Martin said.

A smoke alarm alerted the two, who tried to put the fire out themselves. When the heat and flames became too much, the mother and son escaped and called firefighters at 11:32 p.m.

For some reason, Blair went back into the house.

Although two neighbors thought the family had a dog, firefighters found no pets in the home.

When Blair reached the second story, the smoke was too intense and he dove from a window, hitting his head on the pavement, Martin said.

Both Blair and his mother were taken to Mount Carmel West. She suffered non-life threatening injuries, Martin said.

In 2016, there were 11 fire deaths in Columbus. There were nine fire deaths in 2015.

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