UPDATE 5.30PM:
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Wangaratta Detective Senior Constable Neal Thompson said police did not believe the fire was deliberately lit.
"There's nothing to suggest that the fire was of a suspicious nature," he said.
Police believe the fire started in the front lounge area of the house, spreading throughout the building and into the roof.
But it was controlled before the blames spread to neighbouring properties.
Detective Thompson said the occupant was found in the bathroom and appeared to have tried to escape the fire.
"The fire has completely damaged the front of the house, the other part of the house has some damage," he said.
The father-of-two had lived alone at the Wangaratta property.
His family was notified by police.
Police detectives and uniform officers remained at the scene all day and were later joined by police arson and forensic investigators and CFA fire investigators from Melbourne, which was routine when a person has died in a fire.
They had not determined the cause of the fire as of late Wednesday, but were focusing on the front room.
UPDATE 1.30pm:
Police have confirmed the occupant of the home as a 76-year-old man, who died at the scene.
Detectives and uniform police have remained on the scene at Dixon Street since Wednesday morning and specialists were on their way from Melbourne to help with the investigation.
A cause of the fire has still not been determined.
PREVIOUSLY:
A man has died in a fire after flames took over his Dixon Street, Wangaratta, home.
Firefighters arrived at the house at about 8.30am on Wednesday to find flames coming out the front window.
CFA incident controller Mark Whitehead said neighbours told them there could be a man still inside.
“We made an aggressive internal attack to extinguish the fire, to bring it under control,” he said.
“We did find someone inside.
“Our guys brought him outside and made some resuscitation attempts, but he was subsequently pronounced dead.”
IN OTHER NEWS:
Wangaratta police detectives arrived on scene to investigate, saying the initial belief was the fire was not suspicious.
Three fire crews from Wangaratta attended the fire and planned to remain at the scene for a couple of hours.
The house remained standing, but the front rooms were completely gutted.
“At this stage the cause of the fire is unknown,” Mr Whitehead said.
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