Fire kills 74-year-old man in town to renovate a home on St. Helena, officials say
A man who was in town working on home renovations in St. Helena died Tuesday after a fire on Capers Island Road, according to fire officials.
Elmo Johnson, 74, of Tennessee was pronounced dead at the scene around 8:17 a.m., according to Deputy Coroner Tiffany Lovitt from the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office. Johnson was renovating a house when he died, Lovitt said, a mobile home with several additions.
Firefighters from the St. Helena/Lady’s Island Fire District responded to a report of the fire just after 7 a.m., district spokesperson Scott Harris said. Firefighters found Johnson inside the residence on a second sweep of the home, according to a report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s office.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined, Harris said, but “very little” fire damage to the home was reported.
The S.C. Law Enforcement Division and the state fire marshal’s office is investigating the fire. Having the investigation conducted by these agencies is customary because of the fatality, Harris said.
An autopsy for Johnson has been scheduled for Sunday at the Medical University of South Carolina.
