By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A 71-year-old woman was found dead after firefighters responded to a structure fire in a home in Port Royal on Friday, Sept. 29.
The woman was identified by the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office as Linda Bailey.
An autopsy was performed on Friday and it was found that she died from inhaling smoke and soot secondary to the house fire.
“Manner of death was accidental,” Beaufort County Coroner David Ott said.
The City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department responded at approximately 7:07 a.m. Friday to the fire off of Columbia Avenue, according to Deputy Fire Chief Ross Vezin.
The first engine arrived on scene to find a one-story, approximately 1,200-square-foot residential home engulfed in smoke and flames.
The woman was discovered inside of the home after crews were able to enter to search for victims.
“They made an interior attack to start searching for potential occupants and found a … deceased female,” Vezin said.
Vezin said that firefighters had the fire under control within 30 minutes of arriving on scene. At this time, the cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Vezin.
South Carolina State Fire and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) helped to respond to the incident and are assisting with the investigation.
In addition to The City of Beaufort/Town of Port Royal Fire Department, SLED and S.C. State Fire, Parris Island Fire & Emergency Services, Beaufort County EMS, Port Royal Police Department and Dominion Energy all responded to the scene.
Editor’s note: In an earlier version of this story, Linda Baily’s age was incorrect.
Delayna Earley lives in Beaufort with her husband, two children and Jack Russell. She formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She joined The Island News in 2022. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
