No foul play is suspected in the Sept. 7 fire that killed Edward Cary Pope in a single-wide mobile home in Phenix City, an official said Tuesday.
Scott Pilgreen, assistant state fire marshal, said the cause of the fire at 41 Wommack Road in the Ladonia community still remains undetermined. “It’s a total loss,” he said.
The body of Pope, 46, was found in the mobile home at Cannon Trailer Park after neighbors saw smoke pouring from the home just before 3 a.m.
Firefighters with the Ladonia Volunteer Fire Department were called to battle the fire that also destroyed Pope’s Nissan pickup parked near the home.
Before the investigation is closed, Pilgreen said officials are awaiting an autopsy report if one was completed.
A next-door neighbor said she was afraid that Pope had taken his medication and had fallen asleep. Pope, an electrician, also was a smoker, the neighbor said hours after fire.
An explosion ripped a window air conditioner from the front window of the home and it fell to the ground. Flames gutted the homes, leaving walls on the west side missing and the roof collapsed.
Firefighters were on the scene for more than seven hours to keep the fire from spreading to a nearby home.
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