As firefighters hosed down her charred home Thursday evening, Joyce Manigo watched in stunned silence.
She had arrived home at about 5:45 p.m. Thursday to find flames tearing through the inside of her brick house at 440 Concourse Road, off Highway 69 south of the Columbus-Lowndes County Airport.
Her three children, who were inside when the fire started behind the bed in the southwest-corner bedroom, were able to escape the house without injuries.
The fire quickly spread through about half the house, causing heavy smoke damage to the other half, according to Lowndes County volunteer firefighters.
When firefighters first entered the home, the temperature was 1,000 degrees, they said.
The cause of the fire had not been determined Thursday evening, although electrical problems had been ruled out. An electrician had worked in the bedroom earlier that day, but firefighters said the wiring seemed intact.
The fire could have caused severe damage to nearby homes if firefighters had been a few minutes later, they said.
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