SC man, 70, went back into burning condo for his wife. She made it out – he didn’t

A 70-year-old man who died after running back into a burning Columbia-area condo to rescue his sleeping wife is being hailed a hero by the city’s fire chief.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts on Sunday identified the victim of Saturday’s fatal fire as Harold Morse, 70.

Columbia firefighters responded to a blaze Saturday morning at the Point Arcadia condos in Forest Acres, officials have said. Three condos were heavily damaged in the fire, which happened just off Decker Boulevard.

Chief Aubrey Jenkins said he spoke with Morse’s wife, who told him Morse got out of the building but went back inside to get his sleeping wife.

“He came back in to get her, and he didn’t make it out,” Jenkins said. “She told me that he came in and woke her up.”

Watts said Morse died of smoke inhalation.

The cause of the blaze remains under investigation by the Richland County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Forest Acres Police Department.

Jenkins said firefighters do not encourage people to run into burning buildings. Still, he called Morse’s dying act heroic.

“I told his wife, ‘Your husband is your hero,’” he said. “He sacrificed himself for you.”

This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 1:20 PM with the headline "SC man, 70, went back into burning condo for his wife. She made it out – he didn’t."