Family member arrested after Detroit house fire kills 6-year-old boy

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A family member is in police custody in connection with a deadly house fire that left a 6-year-old dead over the weekend.

Detroit police arrested a relative of the deceased over alleged child abandonment following the fatal fire.

The boy had been left alone in the home when the fire started, authorities said. 

Both firefighters and neighbors said the fire tore through the home quickly.

"Just an absolutely horrific story," said a neighbor. "People living on this street are devastated."

Detroit firefighters arrived in the 15800 block of Lindsey on Detroit's west side around 4:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon - within minutes of getting the call. However, by the time the arrived the fire had already engulfed the home.

Footage taken by a neighbor's cell phone showed smoke billowing from every opening in the home. 

At one point during the fire, the boy's mother arrived in a car. 

But at that point, it was too late. 

"When I thought the boy was in there, it was devastating because I've seen him every morning catching that bus," said the neighbor. "I'm pretty sure every neighbor would have run out and helped if they had known that baby was in that house."

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An investigation into the fire has pulled in both city and federal resources with the Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Division investigating alongside the Detroit Police Department. 

It's unclear how the fire started, but authorities believe it began in the front of the home, likely in a bedroom.

Neighbors say the mother lived at the home with the boy and a dog for about five months before the fire. 

Police have declined to identify the relative arrested, only confirming the arrest was not for the fire but for child abandonment.