Man dies in Chester County, SC house fire near Great Falls, officials say
A South Carolina man died and a woman was hospitalized after a fire at a home in Chester County, officials said.
The man who died in the fire Tuesday outside Great Falls was identified as Vertis Gladden, 57, Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker said. Gladden died of smoke inhalation, Tinker said.
The fire was in the 5600 block of Brooklyn Road near the Catawba River, said Barkley Ramsey, Chester County fire marshal and fire coordinator. The area where the fire happened is in rural South Carolina between Rock Hill and Columbia.
A woman who was at the home was sent to a hospital in Lancaster and remains hospitalized, Ramsey said. Her condition was unavailable Thursday.
The fire appeared to have started on the porch, Ramsey said. The cause remains undetermined and under investigation. The fire is not considered to be suspicious or involve foul play, Ramsey said.
The house did not have smoke detectors, Ramsey said.
The person who died had a prosthetic leg but that condition is not believed to have had any role in the death, both Ramsey and Tinker said.
The fatal fire is being investigated by the coroner’’s office, Chester County Fire Marshal and South Carolina Fire Marshal’s Office.
