An overnight house fire claimed the life of a Pawleys Island man.
Georgetown County Coroner Kenny Johnson said 84-year-old Theodore Irwin was pronounced dead at Waccamaw Community Hospital at 1:44 a.m. this morning.
An autopsy showed he died of smoke inhalation.
The fire was at Irwin’s home on Brookridge Lane.
According to Midway Fire and Rescue spokesman Bob Bebee, the fire was reported by a neighbor who called 911 at 12:35 a.m. Monday and the first firefighters arrived on the scene about five minutes later.
Bebee said a firefighter was walking around the burning home when he was met by Lois Irwin who was trying to get back inside. The panicked woman said her husband was still inside his bedroom.
Two firefighters went through a bedroom window and pulled Irwin out. He and his wife were both rushed to Waccamaw Community Hospital where Mr. Irwin died. Lois survived but was still hospitalized in intensive care Monday morning.
The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division are investigating. Bebee said that is routine when there is a fatality in a fire and does not necessarily mean fouled play was involved.
Bebee said this is the first fatal fire on the Waccamaw Neck this year.
First posted at 5:09 a.m. Monday.