PORTER | A Porter man was found dead inside his home Wednesday morning after emergency responders were called to a fire there.

Laurence Hanna, 42, of 301 S. 23rd St., suffered burns, but authorities have yet to determine a cause of death. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

Coroner Vicki Deppe said there was no visible trauma to Hanna's body.

Deppe also said it was too early to rule whether the death was a homicide, accident or suicide.

Porter Police Chief Jamie Spanier said his police department is "covering all bases" in investigating the death.

"We're part of that Major Crimes Task Force (made up of numerous police agencies in the region) and we went ahead and activated that, so we have some detectives there (at the scene)," Spanier said.

"You can't go back. We're doing everything that can be done just in case."

Spanier said emergency responders were first notified about a strong smell of smoke in the area of Hanna's house at 3:44 a.m. Wednesday. About 15 minutes later, the smoke was determined to be coming from Hanna's home.

Porter firefighters extinguished the blaze and called for the Porter County Fire Investigation Strike Team to investigate the cause.