By PAT GILLESPIE
Knight-Ridder (Columbus, Ga.)
A cleaning company assigned to clear out a house that burned Dec. 27 in Columbus discovered the body of a man Thursday morning that firefighters didn’t locate.
Sam Averette, 80, 1048 Ada Ave. was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m., Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant said. He said the body will be sent to Atlanta for an autopsy, but he suspects smoke inhalation was the cause of death.
Fire Marshal Greg Lang of the Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services said the house contained stacks of possessions, some he estimated at 6 feet tall. When firefighters arrived to put out the blaze, it was difficult for even them to navigate through the building.
“There were paths you had to walk through,” he said. “That was probably why they didn’t find him.”
Lang said firefighters used special equipment designed to detect body heat to see if there were any survivors in the house, but the equipment didn’t indicate anyone was inside. The house being cluttered with debris likely contributed, Lang said.
“He was under a lot of debris,” Lang said.
He said Averette’s family was notified Thursday of the discovery, but that a check with Columbus Police didn’t reveal any missing persons reports for Averette.