A 77-year-old accomplished author from Chicago was found dead early Saturday after a house fire in northwest Indiana, according to neighbors and family members.

His family told ABC7 he lost his longtime partner just a few months ago and was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Firefighters responded to a fire around 4:40 a.m. Saturday in the 5400 block of White Oak Avenue, a residential area in Hammond, Indiana, fire department officials said.

The first responders were notified that a person might still be inside the burning building. A man in his 70s was found inside the building, fire department officials said. He was pronounced dead.

Don S. McClure, an accomplished author, had experienced a series of personal and health challenges in recent months, according to those who knew him. Family members said McClure lost his longtime partner a few months ago, was diagnosed with cancer within the last several weeks and had returned home from the hospital one day before the fire.

Isabel Escobedo, McClure's next-door neighbor and friend, said she and her son alerted firefighters that someone was inside the home.

"I just felt bad. Me and my son told them there was somebody in the house when the firemen come, but there was nothing we could do. It was too late. The house was up in flames," Escobedo said.

Escobedo described McClure as a prolific writer.

"He wrote kids books. He wrote other books. You know, he was happy," she said.

According to Escobedo, McClure had returned home from the hospital the day before the fire. She said he recently told her about his health condition.

"He said he had prostate cancer, and he had spine cancer. And that he wasn't going to walk anymore, he said," Escobedo said.

McClure, a native of Chicago's West Side, had also been grieving the loss of his longtime partner, who died less than three months earlier, Escobedo said.

"It was unexpectedly. He took her into the hospital for some procedure, and she never came out," she said.

Escobedo said the loss had weighed heavily on him.

"He missed her, and he didn't know what he was going to do. But, he had a good heart. You need something, he was there for you," she said.

She also reflected on McClure's death and the impact it had on those who knew him.

"It's scary because now he's not going to be around no more. Tell people don't take life for granted. You never know," Escobedo said.

McClure's older brother, who lives in South Carolina, said McClure and his partner had been preparing to get married and already had rings before she died.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.