After an elderly couple was found dead in their sweltering South Carolina home after their heater reached an alarming 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, firefighters at first thought the machine had caught on fire. Ta.
According to a police report, the bodies of Joan Littlejohn, 84, and Glenwood Fowler, 82, were found by police officers Saturday after family members requested a welfare check after not hearing from the couple for three days. Found by paramedics.
Paramedics attempted to take Littlejohn and Fowler's temperatures, but their temperatures exceeded the device's measurable index, exceeding 106 degrees Fahrenheit, well above the normal body temperature for most adults of 98.6 degrees. .
Firefighters also responded to a scorching home with temperatures estimated at 120 degrees Fahrenheit after the door was left exposed to cold air for 20 minutes.
The smoke eaters then headed to the basement of a Spartanburg home, where they saw what appeared to be a furnace burning. Police say temperatures were measured at about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit before it was closed.
The couple had complained that their space heater and water heater weren't working on Wednesday, so family members came to their home and “fiddled with it” until the pilot light on the space heater came on.
They left the home Wednesday and did not contact the couple, according to a police report.
The Spartanburg County Coroner is conducting autopsies on Littlejohn and Fowler to determine the exact cause of death.
Police said firefighters also tested the carbon dioxide levels inside the home, which did not exceed normal levels.
There is no suspicion of foul play.
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