67-year-old woman dies after microwave incident causes house fire

SUMTER COUNTY, SC (WOLO) – A house fire has claimed the life of a 67-year-old woman in southwest Sumter County, officials said.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said Tommie Ruth Jackson was the victim of a house fire last Thursday, May 23, at approximately 8:37 p.m. in the home she and her sister lived in on Kolb Road.

The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said that when officers arrived at the home, they noticed smoke coming from the house and someone outside screaming for help.

On site, they discovered that there was still a person in the house and was trying to force open the door to gain access.

One person inside the house managed to get out and led an officer to a window where they believed the other person inside the house was still located.

Sumter County Fire Department personnel continued to work to rescue the person and extinguish the fire.

A witness at the scene reported that a resident attempted to heat up a foil-wrapped sandwich in the microwave.

When the sandwich wrapper caught fire in the microwave oven, attempts to extinguish the fire failed.

The victim was removed from the home and emergency responders attempted to save her life before she was taken by ambulance to Prisma Health.
Tuomey is accompanied by officers from the sheriff’s office and Sumter police.

With the assistance of the State Fire Marshall’s Office and the Sumter Fire Department, it was determined that the cause of the fire was related to the placement of a
Aluminum foil packaging inside the microwave and poor living conditions that hindered the fire extinguishing and fire spread.

Authorities believe the fire was an accident. The cause of Jackson’s death has not yet been determined, the SCSO says.