The Community Times Dispatch

A fiery blaze destroyed a home and claimed the life of an elderly woman last Friday evening.

According to Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey, Jannie North, 98, of 546 Brocktown Road, Cottageville, South Carolina died as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning. An autopsy was conducted at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Colleton County Fire Rescue received the report of the fire at 10:24 pm indicating that an elderly woman was possibly trapped inside the dwelling. Witnesses reportedly observed a neighbor of the fire victim named David Green broke out several window in an attempt to locate North. After not hearing any replies, he went the rear of the burning structure and crawled inside about ten feet in an effort to find the woman.

“He couldn’t breathe due to the smoke and was driven out by the intense heat of the fire. He risked his life to try and save the woman. That’s pretty heroic to put aside your own safety to try save someone. He was offered treatment at the scene by Firefighter-Paramedics, but he denied treatment and transport to the hospital,” said Colleton County Fire Rescue Director Barry McRoy.

Family members said that even though North was 98 years old she maintained independence and was very active.

This fire occurred in the Brocktown Community approximately a mile north of Cottageville. A Cottageville town police officer responded, arriving in about 4 minutes and verified the home was fully involved. She was able to obtain information from bystanders as to where the woman may have been inside the house. This was relayed to responding firefighters.

The home was an older single story wood frame building. According the family members there were no smoke detectors in the house. Firefighter-Paramedics from Station 9 in Cottageville were on the scene in about 8 minutes. Four other county fire stations also responded. Firefighters made an aggressive attack on the fire with two handlines and knocked the bulk of the fire down in about 20 minutes.

The fire was under control in about 35 minutes. Firefighters spent several hours overhauling the scene and extinguishing hot spots.

McRoy said that the meticulous process was slow, but a great deal of effort was spent on not disturbing the scene until the woman was found and to preserve as much of the scene until the investigation could be conducted. Firefighters searched the debris and located the woman’s body about a hour later. She was found near the center of the home.

Due to a fatality, it is normal procedure to have SLED’s Fire Investigators handle the?fire investigation. There was nothing found that would indicate the fire was suspicious. SLED has a great deal of resources available to them. SLED Agents arrived around 02:15 and worked to process the scene until a little before noon Saturday. They will issue a cause when their investigation is completed.

Colleton County responded with eight pieces of fire apparatus and about 30 firefighters. Units were on the scene for about 6 hours. The Coroner’s Office responded and transported the body.