A 52-year-old man was killed in a house fire in Reserve Mines early Thursday, the fifth fire-related death in Cape Breton this year.

The fire on Neville Street was reported at about 4:30 a.m. Neighbours said they saw flames shooting out of the main window of the two-storey house.

The body of Vern MacDougall was found in an upstairs bedroom.

Fire investigators have been combing the inside of the house to determine the cause of the blaze.

The walls are charcoal and covered in black soot. Furniture is destroyed, and glass from broken windows lines the floor.

"This vent right here takes you upstairs to the second level so that's going to draw up the fire like a chimney effect," said Cape Breton Regional Police Const. Geoff MacLeod.

MacLeod said it looks as if the fire broke out on the main floor, likely from a cigarette that was left burning.

This is the fifth fire-related death in Cape Breton this year, a statistic that alarms provincial Fire Marshal Bob Cormier.

"The number of fires that have occurred over the last period of time is higher than what we have seen in the last number of years, and we are concerned about increasing numbers," Cormier said.

He said his department is examining each of these fatal fires for similarities.