Shortly before 9 p.m. on Tuesday, June 1, a structure fire was reported in Twin City.
Captain Marcus Hartwell with the Twin City Police Department first arrived on scene at the 221 West Short Street address and reported heavy fire conditions with a resident reportedly still in the
762 square foot one-story wood frame building.
Facing heavy smoke and fire, firefighters entered the burning structure searching for the missing occupant. Shortly after 9 p.m. they located the deceased occupant on the living room floor.
The Coroner’s Office identified the deceased as 73-year-old Dorothy I. Williams of that address.
On June 4, Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King announced that Williams was killed in an accidental fire on June 1. The GBI Crime Lab in Pooler later performed an autopsy and determined the cause of death to be smoke and soot inhalation. An investigator with Commissioner King’s Fire Investigations Unit, along with the Twin City and Swainsboro fire chiefs, examined the scene on June 2 and ruled the fire accidental in nature.
“The investigation revealed multiple extension cords and power strips being used in the home,” said Commissioner King. “This tragic fire appears to have started in the living room where two power strips were supplying power to an extension cord running a (air conditioning) window unit. There were unfortunately no smoke detectors found in the home.”
Canoochee, Garfield and Swainsboro firefighters assisted Twin City firefighters at the scene.
