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Herb King, of Brams Point Road, was severely burned while standing in a lot near his home around 6:30 p.m. after flames escaped a fire pit, officials said.
Town of Hilton Head Island Fire and Rescue Division Chief Lavarn Lucas said that while the circumstances surrounding the fire still are unclear, firefighters arrived to find a melted gas can and plastic lighter near the fire pit and three small fires burning nearby.
The fire has been ruled accidental, a release from the fire division issued Wednesday said.
King was airlifted to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta on Tuesday night, officials said. He was burned over90 percent of his body, friends said.
According to a Web page created to update his status, King remained in a coma and on a respirator as of 2 p.m.
As of 6 p.m. Wednesday, his condition remained critical, friends said.
Friends held a prayer vigil at a neighbor's Brams Point Road home Wednesday night, friends said.
King is the owner of Principal Developers, a Hilton Head commercial and residential development firm, the company's Web site said.
Hilton Head Mayor Tom Peeples, who has known King for 30 years, said King moved to the area from Kentucky and began working as a Realtor.
King sold the 900-acre Indigo Plantation, now the Oldfield community on S.C. 170, in 2000, news reports said. According to the Principal Developer's Web site, King's company has been involved in the development and construction of more than 500 single-family homes, 275 multi-family units and 1.2 million square feet of retail and commercial space.
"Herb is one of those guys everyone seems to know and love," Peeples said. "I know we are all pulling for him."
