Man found living in underground bunker

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An investigator for the fire marshal's office in Buffalo said he had an interesting discovery while looking into a fire in the city -- a homeless man he found living in a well-equipped underground bunker.

Investigator James O'Neill said he's not even sure it's proper to call the man homeless, since he has lights run by car batteries, a hot plate and a foam bed.

O'Neill said the 47-year-old military veteran told him the 16-by-20-foot bunker took two years to dig and he's been living in it for six years.

"Some people would call him homeless, but he's a clean, well-spoken guy. When I spoke to him, he was reading a novel by Joseph Wambaugh," O'Neill told The Buffalo News.

He said the man earns money doing occasional odd jobs.

"It's not the Marriott hotel by any means, but this man has made it comfortable down there," O'Neill said. It had insulation and tarps on the walls and a wood-and-roofing material ceiling and O'Neill isn't saying who or where the man is.