Man's body found in fire on Weathervane Road in Nahunta
By Joey Pitchford
Published in News on December 30, 2017 3:51 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Firefighters fold up the blue sheet that concealed the body of 79-year-old Landis Jones at a fire on Weathervane Road in Nahunta.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
First responders work the scene of a fire on Weathervane Road in Nahunta Saturday.
Updated at 4:39 p.m.
An elderly man was found dead in a burning Nahunta home Saturday afternoon, the Wayne County Sheriff's Office confirmed in a press release Saturday evening.
Firefighters found the victim, 79-year-old Landis Jones, deceased in a first floor bathroom while extinguishing the flames.
Around 12:13 p.m., the Nahunta, Pikeville-Pleasant Grove and Little River volunteer fire departments responded to a structure fire call at 120 Weathervane Road. They arrived to find the building on fire near the garage area.
Jones was a resident of the home, according to the release.
Sheriff Larry Pierce said that an investigation of the fire was just getting underway.
From the road, windows on the right side of the building appeared blown out, but it was not clear if this was due to the fire or if responders had broken the windows themselves to fight the flames.
The exterior of the building was scorched in several places, and significant fire damage was visible above two of the first-floor windows.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated. The Wayne County fire marshal and the North Carolina SBI were both called in to aid in the investigation.
Dozens of firefighters moved between the front yard and the trucks, some holding up a blue sheet where the deceased man's body lie.
Empty cars lined the road further back where firefighters arrived in their own vehicles to attack the blaze.
Weathervane Road remained blocked in both directions in front of the home for several hours.
------------------------------ Posted 3:51 p.m. -------------------------------
The name of a man whose body was found at fire early Saturday afternoon is not yet being released.
The victim's body was found between noon and 1 p.m. Saturday, as the Nahunta, Pikeville-Pleasant Grove and Little River volunteer fire departments arrived to find the house at 120 Weathervane Road in flames.
"We are just in the very preliminary stages of investigating this," Wayne County Sheriff Larry Pierce said. "I can confirm that there was one fatality, and it was a male."
From the road, windows on the right side of the building appeared blown out, but it was not clear if this was due to the fire or if responders had broken the windows themselves to fight the flames.
The exterior of the building was scorched in several places, and significant fire damage was visible above two of the first-floor windows.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated at this time.
Dozens of firefighters moved between the front yard and the trucks, some holding up a blue sheet where the deceased man's body lie.
Empty cars lined the road further back where firefighters arrived in their own vehicles to attack the blaze.
Weathervane Road remained blocked in both directions in front of the home for several hours.
This report will continued to be updated as additional detailes are released.