An elderly Eatonton woman lost her life in a house fire in Great Waters last night, authorities say.
74-year-old Carol Schwalbe Dunn died in the fire that consumed her Hopeton Lane home in the wee hours of the morning Saturday, May 6, according to Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills.
A neighbor called 911 and reported the fire around 2:12 a.m., and firetrucks arrived about nine minutes later, Sills reported. The two-story brick house was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived, Putnam County Fire Chief Tommy McClain said.
"We were told a woman was there, so several crews attempted to search the residence but they were just unable to find her," he said, noting that as he talked with the newspaper reporter, he and the State Fire Marshal were still there at the scene still investigating the fire, and the house was a 100% loss. Dunn lived at the house alone, he said.
The sheriff also was at the scene earlier and had talked with the fire marshal.
"It appears the fire started in the kitchen, and there doesn't appear to have been any foul play involved," he said.
The victim's sister, who lives in Screven County, had been notified, Sills said.