A Greenwood woman died in a trailer fire March 5 as a result of smoke inhalation, according to a report from the state Fire Marshal’s Office.
Sandra Hambers, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene. Her death was the first recorded fire-related fatality in the city since April 2016.
The death is believed to have been smoking-related, according to the state fire agency.
Hambers lived in a trailer located at 303 Mississippi 7 North (No. 2, Rear).
Greenwood police received a call about the fire at 5:30 a.m., according to Chief Ray Moore. Units from the Greenwood Fire Department arrived soon afterward.
Officers broke out windows and entered through the front door in search of Hambers but were driven back by the heat and heavy smoke. The Fire Department used 500 gallons of water in extinguishing the blaze.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, from 2006-2010, Mississippi had the highest average state unintentional fire death rate in the country at 27.5 per million population.
The association reported that 21 percent of the state’s population in 2008 lived below the poverty line and that, in 2007, 25 percent of the state’s population 12 and older, had used cigarettes in the last month.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden @gwcommonwealth.com.
