Electric space heater likely sparked deadly Twiggs County blaze, investigators say

A 62-year-old man died Saturday morning in a mobile home blaze that was likely sparked by an electric space heater, state fire investigators said.

The victim, Michael Curry, was found dead on a bedroom floor, according to a Monday news release from Georgia’s Office of the Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner.

The fire was discovered at about 7:30 a.m. Saturday at Curry’s home, which sits about 10 miles west of Jeffersonville and not far from Interstate 16 along Ga. 87 near the town of Huber.

A statement from Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King noted that a Twiggs County sheriff’s deputy “arrived to find fire coming from the right side of the structure and was informed that the owner was still inside the trailer.”

The half-century-old trailer was gutted by flames, the news release noted, adding that the fire likely “originated next to an electric space heater” that had apparently been left on.

Officials said Curry’s death is the 14th statewide this year caused by fire.