One dead after blaze in Socastee

One person is dead after a blaze at 512 Keystone Ln. in the Socastee area early Tuesday morning.

Janet Lynn Branson, 63, originally from Tennessee, died Tuesday morning, according to her brother, Richard Button, who was at the scene of the fire to speak with investigators. He identified the body at the scene.

Richard Button’s father, Bill, is the resident of the house where the fire occurred, but he was not there Tuesday morning, because he was in recovery at a medical facility after a stroke last week, Richard Button said.

“Life comes at us hard sometimes,” Richard Button said.

Horry County Fire Rescue responded to a working fire after a call just after 6 a.m., Battalion Chief John Fowler told The Sun News.

“At this time the fire is under control and we still have crews on scene and our fire investigators are there determining the cause,” Fowler said at roughly 8 a.m .

At the scene, some neighbors in the typically-quiet Folly Estates neighborhood gathered in small groups behind police tape, as HCFR and Horry County police investigated death and the cause of the fire. The Sun News was able to observe one window broken out of the house at 512 Keystone Ln.

Fire investigator James Cyganiewicz first confirmed that one person had died earlier Tuesday, and Shirley Smothers, a neighbor, said she had seen the body of a woman laying outside the house.

Smothers, who lives two doors down from the house where the fire started, said her neighbor tried to force his way through the back door when he saw smoke, but was unable to make it in.

This story was originally published July 4, 2017 at 8:01 AM with the headline "One dead after blaze in Socastee."