Midlands man’s body found in house fire, coroner says
A Midlands man’s body was found over the weekend in a house fire, the Sumter County Coroner’s Office said.
Kenneth Atkinson died Sunday, Coroner Robbie Baker said. The 75-year-old Sumter resident died of injuries sustained during a house fire, according to Baker.
The fire at a Dew Street home was reported at about 2 p.m., the coroner’s office said. That’s just off North Main Street, near the junction of U.S. 378 and U.S. 76.
Deputies and firefighters were told by a neighbor that someone was inside the home, but that neighbor wasn’t able to get inside the burning building because of the fast-growing flames along the front of the structure, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.
Sumter Fire Department Division Chief Joey Duggan told the sheriff’s office that once the fire was contained, Atkinson was found inside the home.
No other injuries were reported.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Information about what caused the fire was not available, but the blaze is being investigated by the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, Sumter Fire Department and the coroner’s office.
The Sumter County arson investigator was called to the scene as a requirement due to a fire death, according to the sheriff’s office which said no foul play is suspected.
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This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 8:05 AM.
