ANDERSON, SC (WSPA) – A 22-year-old South Carolina man is dead after he went back into a burning home to get his phone.
Anderson County Deputy Coroner Charlie Boseman said a single-wide trailer caught fire on Berry Lane in Anderson just before 3 a.m. Friday morning.
Officials say three people were inside the home at the time of the fire – the victim, a 17-year-old, and one female. The woman woke up and noticed the smoke. All three made it out, but Boseman said the victim went back inside to get his phone and did not make it out.
The man’s body was later found in a back bedroom. Firefighters say the victim was trapped within five feet of the doorway. His name is not being released at this time.
Homeland Park Fire Department says the cause of the fire remains under investigation, but it may have started with a cigarette. Firefighters say the fire started in the mother’s bedroom and she woke her daughter and her fiancée up and got them out before the victim went back inside.
It’s the second fire the victims have experienced in the past year. A previous fire occurred at a different home when an air conditioning unit caused an electrical fire, firefighters say.
Authorities say there were no smoke detectors in the mobile home.
Boseman says an autopsy is scheduled for later Friday morning.
