Four people, including two children, killed in S.C. fire
Four people, including an infant and a 4-year-old child, were killed while trying to escape a South Carolina house fire that broke out early Sunday after an attempt to refuel a kerosene heater went wrong, authorities said.
The fire had already engulfed the house when Kathy Shippy, the only person to escape, ran across the street at 1:40 a.m. Sunday and asked a neighbor to call 911, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said in a statement to local media.
“A doorbell camera on the neighbor’s house shows that the structure was fully involved in fire at that time,” Fowler said in the news release, according to WLOS-TV.
Willie Morris, 38; Dakeyia Shippy, 25 years old; Mason Issac, 4, and Jerekry McGill, 7 months, all perished, Fowler said. Their relationship was not immediately clear, but Fowler said they all lived together in the house.
“Kathy Shippy said Morris was trying to refuel a kerosene heater inside the house when a fire broke out,” Fowler said, according to WYFF-TV. “The four victims were found on the kitchen floor at the rear of the house and appeared to have attempted to escape through a window when they were overcome by smoke.”
The Gaffney Town Fire Department stressed the importance of fire safety and urged residents to review protocols.
“Tragedy has struck our community with the deaths of four members of a Gaffney family,” firefighters said in a social media post. “We cannot stress enough, now that winter is upon us, not to fill up your kerosene heaters inside your home.”
Officials also urged residents to review the city’s fire safety videos; October is Fire Prevention Month.
“Help us keep your family safe,” firefighters said. “We continue to pray for this family over the coming days and ask that you pray for this family” and everyone else involved “as they deal with this tragedy.”
Likewise, the Gaffney Police Department asked “our community to join us in sending thoughts and prayers to the families affected by the tragic house fire that claimed the lives of four people early this morning.”
The Cherokee County Coroner’s Office, Gaffney Fire Marshal and the State Law Enforcement Division are all investigating and autopsies have been scheduled.
Gaffney is a town of about 12,500 located about 110 miles northwest of Columbia, the state capital. Gaffney, seat of Cherokee County, is known as the “Peach Capital of South Carolina” and is home to the Peachoid Water Tower.
