Two Women Injured in Duplex Fire

Two women are being treated for injuries sustained in a fire that destroyed a duplex on Aiken Street in Lyons. Lyons Fire Chief Darel Corley said he and a Lyons police officer were the first to arrive at the scene and discovered the fire was fully involved and through the roof of the residence at approximately 4:50 a.m. on Thursday, March 18. An elderly woman, who Corley said made the 911 call reporting the fire, was standing outside the duplex as well as another woman from the opposite side of the duplex who told him that her niece and sister were still inside the burning structure.

A search of the residence revealed one woman standing in a corner of a bedroom and another lying on the floor of the kitchen. Corley said firefighters found the victims after hearing a call for help and seeing one of the victims through a window. An investigation by a State Fire Marshal’s Investigative Unit revealed that the cause of the fire was an overloaded power strip.

“Even as the fire burned, the smoke detectors were still going off. They probably saved some lives,” Corley said. The victims were transferred for treatment at the Burn Center of Doctors Hospital of Augusta.