GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP) - Authorities say a heating lamp being used to keep pets on the front porch warm started a fire that killed a man Christmas Eve in his South Carolina home.
Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said firefighters found 85-year-old Joseph McCluney dead in the bedroom of his Gaffney home around 10 p.m. Monday.
Investigators told media outlets the fire appeared to begin on the porch where a heating lamp ignited caught bedding and a box McCluney had out to keep cats warm.
Fowler said in a statement he has ordered an autopsy on McCluney to determine the cause of this death.
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