An elderly man died in a Baton Rouge house fire Wednesday morning.

Neighbors said they raced to call firefighters as the flames quickly spread, but they were too late.

Fire officials said the fire claimed the life of an 84 year-old white man who was disabled. They found him on the couch in his home located in the 3100 block of Marydon Drive.

Fire investigators said the cause of the fire was improper disposal of smoking material.

Neighbors said the man was disabled, and had trouble walking.

Firefighters arrived on the scene to heavy flames already coming through the roof and windows. Officials believe the man lived there with just his dog, which was found wandering around the scene shortly after firefighters tamed the blaze.

One neighbor said he and a few others ran to the home to see if the man was still inside.

"We were going to try to get in there, about that time the first truck pulled up, we just knew the guy didn't make it, that he was in there, we couldn't get in there," said David Reinach.

The man's name is not being released pending notification of relatives, and a positive ID from the Coroner's Office.