The Maricopa man who died during an Aug. 8 Glennwilde house fire did not perish from smoke or burns. Instead, the Pinal County Medical Examiner has ruled 63-year-old Mike Blunt died of coronary artery disease, better known as heart disease.

The finding came alongside newly released fire and police reports that show Blunt repeatedly ignored pleas from authorities and family members to leave the burning home, choosing instead to battle the flames himself.

According to 911 call logs released today, dispatchers told Blunt and his wife, Luz Montoya, to get out. Montoya complied, but Blunt “refused to leave” and went back inside with a ladder and buckets of water. Witnesses told officers they saw him re-enter the attic as fire tore through the roof.

Firefighters arrived minutes later to find smoke and flames pouring from the home on Sussex Road. Montoya, frantic and calling for her cats, told crews her husband was deaf and still in the attic. Crews launched an aggressive search but found no one inside. Moments later, officers discovered Blunt collapsed in the backyard, blue-faced and unresponsive. He was rushed to Exceptional Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead just after 7 a.m.

Investigators have determined the fire started accidentally in a trash can outside the home, then spread into the attic. The house was declared a total loss.

Neighbors told police Blunt was known to burn trash in the mornings, and one speculated that habit may have sparked the blaze, according to a police report released today. Firefighters would confirm the speculation.

Blunt, a longtime handyman in Maricopa, had announced his retirement the day before the inferno, citing health issues. Family members launched a fundraiser to help Montoya replace clothing and essentials; it had collected $4,765 toward a $10,000 goal by Friday morning.

“Mike left us far too soon, and our hearts are broken,” stepson Nick Castillo wrote on the fundraiser page.