A Columbus man died Sunday from injuries he suffered in a fire at his house Saturday night.
Hamlet Ferrell, 45, of 3031 Clay St., died Sunday afternoon in the Joseph M. Still Jr. Burn Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, said Muscogee County Coroner James Dunnavant.
Ferrell sustained second- and third-degree burns over 40 percent of his body, Dunnavant said. The cause of death was smoke inhalation and burn injuries to his head and chest.
Sgt. Kevin Nixon, an investigator with Columbus Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Ferrell's 69-year-old mother, whose name was not released Sunday night, was also injured in the fire. She was taken to The Medical Center for treatment; no report on her condition was available Sunday night.
Battalion Chief Jim Bryant said firefighters were called to the house at 6:37 p.m. Saturday. They found the woman suffering from smoke inhalation in the back of the house. She told firefighters her son was inside, and they found Ferrell in the bedroom.
Nixon said it appeared Ferrell tried to escape from the room, but ran past the door before he collapsed.
The fire gutted the small one-story house at the end of Clay Street.
Ferrell is the second person in Columbus to die this year from injuries suffered in a fire.
Charles Whetstone, 50, died Feb. 14 of smoke inhalation.
