Two people escaped from a burning home unharmed in Anderson early Tuesday morning.
Anderson County's Fire Chief says two people were using the fireplace for heat at a home - with no gas or electric service - at 52 South Lyons Street around 6:00am.
Neighbor, Tommy Sentell tells News Channel 7's Carmen Coursey, that his wife saw the smoke boiling out of the home when she was leaving for work. They ran over knocking as loud as they could to get them out. Sentell says the woman's face was black with soot. He says if his wife hadn't seen the flames, they probably wouldn't have made it out.
Chief Billy Gibson of the Anderson Fire Department believes this is another heating source related fire. Gibson says it appears there may have been problems with the chimney of the home. He believes the fire spread from the chimney to the attic and then burned the rest of the house.
Another neighbor tells us the situation is sad because they were just trying to stay warm and no one can afford regular heat anymore because there are no jobs. He says he doesn't have heat either, so he's been using electric heaters. He says he knows this is not going to be the last time this happens, because this year, people just can't afford anything else.
The Red Cross is helping the two people who got out of the home. They also provided coffee for firefighters, who battled the smoke and flames during cold temperatures early Tuesday morning.
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