First responders found two seniors dead in their Spartanburg, South Carolina, home with a heater that reached 1,000 degrees.
Family members of Joan Littlejohn, 84, and Glennwood Fowler, 82, told the Spartanburg Police Department they visited on Jan. 3 to fix the heat in the home, according to The State newspaper.
After moving a wire, the pilot light on the house’s hot water heater turned back on and the family left, police told Greenville NBC affiliate WYFF.
After days passed without the couple reaching back out to their family, police did a wellness check at the residence Saturday, getting into the locked house via the bedroom window. Mr. Fowler was found dead on the bed, with Ms. Littlejohn lifeless in a chair, police said.
The house temperature had reached over 120 degrees Fahrenheit, the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office said, according to South Carolina Public Radio.
The couple each had internal temperatures exceeding the maximum thermometer reading of 106 degrees, police said.
Thermal imaging cameras found the heater had rocketed to 1,000 degrees, Spartanburg Fire Department Assistant Chief Brad Hall told the McClatchy news service.
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