One dead, one injured in house fire

STOCK PHOTO

SJNT staff

SHEPHERD — A Shepherd resident died and another suffered smoke inhalation in a house fire that broke out in the 100 block of South Hill Avenue in Shepherd on Sept. 24.

Juanita Wilson, 76, died in the fire, and Jack Cullum, 63, was transported to a nearby hospital for further evaluation for smoke inhalation.

Reports from the San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office indicate that at around 3:25 p.m. a call came in from an alarm company stating a smoke detector was going off.

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Cullum told police that he was waiting for a football game to start when he smelled something burning; he looked up at the ceiling and saw smoke, and later saw flames coming from an outlet behind the couch in the living room of the double-wide mobile home.

The preliminary report indicates the faulty electrical outlet was the cause, but the final report from Fire Marshal Jeff Williams is not in yet.

Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Harris Blanchette pronounced Wilson dead at the scene and requested an inquest. The body has been sent to the Jefferson County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy.

Fatality residential fire. Preliminary reports indicate that the fire may have resulted from a faulty electrical outlet.

Cullum was reported to be in stable condition.