Crews encounter hoarding situation battling fire that left man dead in Westampton Twp.

WESTAMPTON TWP., N.J. (WPVI) -- Workers were removing debris from a home on Pennington Drive in Westampton Twp., Burlington County on Monday after a weekend fire killed 71-year-old Shun Ying Leung.

"We had hoarding conditions throughout the entire house, floor to ceiling with contents," said Chief Craig Farnsworth of the Westampton Township Fire Department.

Chief Craig Farnsworth says Leung became trapped on the first floor and couldn't escape when the fire started.

"One thing we do is take the windows and make them into doors so we take the bottom part of the window as we can to try and pull as much stuff out," said Chief Farnsworth.

Firefighters responding to the blaze on Saturday night had to call in extra backup. The chief says massive amounts of debris in a hoarding situation also puts responding firefighters in extra danger.

According to the Mental Health Association, hoarding affects 15 percent of New Jersey's 9 million residents. Compulsive hoarding is a form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

"Usually it's going to be other family members and neighbors and friends that are going to see this because the level of awareness of the hoarder directly is not going to be as high. They are going to do less about it which is why there are more fire hazards and things like that," said Jaime Zuckerman, a Clinical Psychologist in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, crews are working quickly to clear debris. The fire chief says this time of year there is a lot of looting, and in a hoarding situation, these homes are often targeted.

This is the fourth hoarding-related fire in Westampton Township in the past two years.