One person has died and another airlifted out of Columbus for medical treatment after a fire destroyed a mobile home on the 2600 block of Seventh Avenue North Friday night.
Columbus Fire and Rescue personnel, along with other authorities, responded to the call at about 10:30 p.m., CFR Public Information Officer Anthony Colom said.
Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant identified the deceased victim as Melissa Hughes, 40, of 2610 Seventh Ave. N. Merchant said it looked as though Hughes died of smoke inhalation, but the Mississippi State Crime Lab will perform an autopsy in Jackson early this week to determine official cause of death.
One male victim, who bystanders said was Hughes’ boyfriend, was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle with severe burns. He was later airlifted to another medical facility, though Colom did not know which one.
Colom said Saturday it appeared the two victims were the only people in the house at the time of the fire.
Firefighters put out the flames within an hour, but Colom said the home was completely destroyed.
Friends and neighbors stood in the street behind caution tape, waiting for news as firefighters and Columbus police officers worked the scene. One witness, who did not want to be named but said she knows Hughes’ mother, said she heard about the fire over the police scanner and came to see what had happened. The house was engulfed in flame when she arrived, she said.
“It was blazing,” she said. “You couldn’t see nothing but fire.”
Authorities are still investigating the fire’s cause. The state fire marshal arrived at about 1 a.m. Saturday to assist, Colom said.
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