CANAAN — State fire marshals are investigating a fatal house fire in Canaan Village that occurred last Sunday night.

One of the town’s police officers came to the aid of badly burned 61-year-old man at the scene before the ambulance arrived and he was transported to the hospital, according to police. Canaan Police Chief Ryan Porter confirmed on Tuesday that man — identified as Rickey Bailey — was airlifted to a second medical facility before succumbing to his injuries.

Another occupant — identified by police as Tina Dailey, 57 — survived but lost all her belongings in the fire, according to social media posts.

Canaan Fire Department and EMS and other area fire departments responded about 11:30 p.m. on Sunday evening to a first-alarm fire of a house at 1126 Route 4, near the intersection with School Street, according to a social media post by Canaan Fire Department and EMS.

Porter said that Det. Amanda Lewis, who was on patrol duty Sunday evening, arrived at the scene within one minute of the call and found the 711-square-foot house “essentially fully engulfed” and the occupants outside. He said Lewis located Bailey behind the house with “pretty severe injuries.”

Lewis placed Bailey, who was barefoot and had difficulty walking, in her police vehicle until the ambulance arrived a few minutes later, Porter said.

“She managed to get him across the yard and over into the cruiser so he could at least get out of the elements and to try to keep him relatively stable until the ambulance and paramedics arrived,” Porter said.

The house fire was “knocked down” within 15 minutes of the first fire engine arriving, was placed “under control” by 12:22 a.m. and declared extinguished by 1 a.m., the fire department reported on social media.

Canaan Fire Chief Bill Bellion said he expected state fire marshals to be on the scene Wednesday to begin their investigation but had no further information about the fire.

Porter said he did not have any insight into the cause of the fire but said Lewis reported to him that it “probably started more close to the front of the house because it seemed to be concentrated more towards that area when she got there.”

A public information officer with the state’s fire marshal office said via email on Tuesday afternoon that investigators “plan to issue a formal statement” on Wednesday “if more details (about the fire investigation) become available.”

Canaan town property records show the house is owned by Dakota Barton, who also owns the adjacent building, a multiple unit rental property, at 1130 Route 4.

Reached by phone on Tuesday, Barton declined to comment, citing the ongoing fire marshal investigation.

The house that burned on Sunday evening in Canaan Village is only a few doors away on Route 4 from the site of a house fire in 2011 in which a resident also lost his life.

On Tuesday, Carol Medieros, a retired administrative secretary from Dartmouth Health, was standing on the porch of her home on School Street nearly directly across Route 4 from the burned house.

She said she heard the sirens and watched as the Canaan police officer arrived at the scene.

“They were very prompt,” Medieros said of the emergency response, adding she could hear Lewis calling radio dispatch to describe Bailey’s condition as the detective maneuvered to place him in the police cruiser.

John Lippman can be contacted at jlippman@vnews.com.