Women killed in early morning house fires, South Carolina coroners say

A woman was killed Wednesday in an early morning fire at a South Carolina home, according to the Aiken County Coroner’s Office.

Read more SC man used machine gun to rob informant as federal agents watched, official says

The victim was a 73-year-old occupant of the Golf Course Road home, the coroner’s office said in a news release. That’s near the Graniteville area, not far from the state line separating South Carolina and Georgia.

The coroner’s office said it will release the name of the woman who died after DNA analysis is completed and she is positively identified.

At about 1:20 a.m., the coroner’s office was called to the home in the 100 block of Golf Course Road, according to the release. The victim died at the scene from burns suffered in the fire, the coroner’s office said.

There was no word about the cause of the fire, or its point of origin, but the death continues to be investigated by the coroner’s office and the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office. Officials did not say if foul play is suspected.

Read more Lexington, West Columbia water feud has ended. Here’s what a court said

An autopsy will be performed in Newberry, according to the coroner’s office.

There was another deadly fire in another part of South Carolina at about the same time early Wednesday morning.

At about 1:05 a.m., firefighters responded to a separate house fire near the Westminster area, according to the Oconee County Coroner’s Office. The resident of the home at 191 Chauga Valley Road was found in a bedroom and identified as 61-year-old Kelle Renee McCracken, the Oconee County Coroner’s Office said.

The cause and origin of the fire remain under investigation by SLED, the Oconee County Sheriff’s Department and Oconee Fire Emergency Services, and an autopsy will be performed, according to the coroner’s office.