11-21-2018
The Pickens County Sheriff’s Office has throughout the day continued to investigate the fire that tragically resulted in a man’s death earlier this morning.
As previously released, a passing motorist observed flames at approximately 8:35am coming from a small structure within plain view from the road located at 3156 Dacusville Highway.
Emergency responders arrived on the scene to find the building which appeared to be initially designed as a storage building to be completely destroyed.
The Sheriff’s Office has confirmed that two adults (male and female) and a dog lived inside the location. The male (61yoa) along with the dog perished in the fire. The female (60yoa) was transported from the scene to the hospital where she is being treated for burns to the hands.
Preliminary information and an examination of the scene do not immediately indicate any obvious signs of foul play.
Detectives have been able to conduct a brief interview with the surviving woman who has indicated that she and her boyfriend, who is the deceased, lived at the location. Just prior to the incident being reported by the passing motorist, the female resident stated that both she and her boyfriend observed fire at or near a propane heater inside the structure.
As they attempted to evacuate from the building, the male turned to retrieve items and never exited the structure according to the girlfriend.
An autopsy is scheduled on a later date to determine the exact cause and manner of death for the male.
The Sheriff’s Office with the assistance of SLED investigators will continue to examine and test samples taken from the scene along with the results from the autopsy once it has been performed.
Sheriff Rick Clark stated…
“Pickens County is not immune from the occasional tragedy involving the loss of life. Our hearts and prayers remain with all of those involved or in some way connected to this incident to include our first responders”.
The Sheriff’s Office does not have any additional information to release at this time and as new information or details are discovered, we will disseminate that information to all media resources at one time in the form of an additional media release.
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