Police identify man killed in fatal Hilton Head house fire
A 57-year-old Hilton Head man was identified by police late Wednesday as the victim of a fatal house fire on the north end of the island.
Thomas Botelho lived at the Monticello Drive home in Chinaberry Ridge.
Firefighters responded to the scene adjacent to Hilton Head Plantation around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday, said Joheida Fister, fire marshal for Hilton Head Fire Rescue. At the time, smoke could be seen over the north end of the island.
The fire was under control within about 30 minutes, Fister said.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s investigators and Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office personnel also were called to the scene, said Maj. Bob Bromage, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office.
A cause of the fire has not been identified.
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Residents and drivers were asked to avoid the area.
Jill Foley, who lives nearby, said the community is in shock. “You hear about it happening all the time, but not to your neighbor,” she said.
Foley said she ran outside when she heard the sirens. “I thought it was an ambulance, and I was worried about my neighbors,” Foley said.
Then she watched as flames rose from the house Fire crews, she said, did “an amazing job.
“They got on top of it pretty quickly.”
Third fatal fire
This is the third fatal fire in Beaufort County in about a month.
Jeffrey Hile, 58, was killed in a house fire on Lady’s Island Dec. 3. His 23-year-old son, Dietrich Hile, barely escaped the fire, he previously told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
Donald Lawson, 61, of Burton was killed when his trailer caught fire New Year’s Day. The trailer was fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived at the scene off Savannah Highway.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is assisting in the investigation of the fires.
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This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 1:17 PM.
