Mattie Sherman, 81, was found near the back door of her Willard Avenue home, Fire Chief James Carswell said.
“It looks like she had one of those two-key deadbolt styled locks and just couldn’t get out in time,” Carswell said. “We think the fire may have been a cooking-type fire, but everyone is still investigating.”
The woman’s body was taken from her home to Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and then released to a Dawson funeral home, Coroner Emma Quimbley said.
Her remains will not be taken to the state crime lab in Atlanta for an autopsy, Quimbley said, because the cause and manner of death are clear.
Carswell said that the woman was likely cooking something on the stove when it caught fire and then was trapped when she couldn’t get the door unlocked.
“It was likely the superheated gases that killed her,” Carswell said.
Kitchen fires and grease fires often cause serious injuries or death because people instinctively try to carry the hot food or pan with grease outside if catches fire, Carswell said, making it more likely that they’ll sustain serious burns or breath in the hot fumes.