Fire officials say cooking left unattended is to blame for a deadly fire that killed an 83-year-old bedridden woman and her adult son in central Georgia Thursday.
The fire in Cochran, about 40 miles south of Macon, was ruled accidental, according to a spokesman for Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens.
“An arson investigator with his office determined that the fire started as a result of unattended cooking on the stovetop,” spokesman Glenn Allen said in a statement.
The fire broke out about 4:40 p.m. Thursday at a rental home in the 200 block of W. Peters St.
Elmon Lee Jackson and her son, 53-year-old Larry Jackson, were killed.
“A caretaker at the home for the day was able to escape the blaze when she was pushed out the door to safety by Mr. Jackson,” Allen said.
Their deaths bring the number of people killed in Georgia fires in 2018 to 65, he said.
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