By HEATHER RUPPE
An elderly and wheelchair-bound Smoaks woman died inside her home in a Thanksgiving Day fire.
Agnes Padgett, 90, of Smoaks, died inside her Shawnee Lane residence on Thursday, Nov. 25th, according to Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.
Firefighters were first called to the house fire at about 6 p.m. that day when a neighbor reported seeing “an orange glow” across a field, said Colleton County Fire-Rescue Director Barry McRoy. That neighbor also ran to the house and kicked in the back door, trying to get inside the house to save the woman. However, he couldn’t get inside the house because flames were blocking the door and windows, he said. When firefighter-paramedics arrived, they found the single-story wooden house “fully involved,” McRoy said, with flames coming from the roof and windows.
“After battling the blaze for approximately 25 minutes, crews were able to enter the structure. Sadly, the woman was found deceased in the middle of the building,” said McRoy.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. However, McRoy says they believe the fire appears to have started in the front of the living room and then spread to the rest of the house.
Fire units were on scene for five hours.
