Coroner’s jury rules accidental deaths in Mount Zion house fire, Decatur traffic crash

April 23-- Apr. 23--DECATUR -- Two inquests in Decatur Monday saw coroner's jury verdicts of accidental death for a Mount Zion woman who died in a fire and a Decatur man who lost his life after a car crash.

In the fire death, the jury was told by State Fire Marshal investigator Shane Arndt that the remains of Jodie F. Bauer, 57, had been found the morning of Feb. 27 in her home in the 700 block of Kirk Drive.

Her body was slumped on the floor of her living room, not far from a recliner chair and a packet of cigarettes. Ardnt said both he and an insurance company investigator agreed the fire had started closer to the recliner chair and may have been sparked by smoking materials, but no one could be sure.

Under questioning from Macon County Coroner Michael E. Day, Arndt said Bauer could have quickly become disoriented from the toxic effects of fumes produced by the fire. "So it's not inconceivable that she was in the house, locked and secured, and she may not have been able to have navigated her way to an exit?" asked Day.

"That is correct," replied Arndt.

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Day told the jury an autopsy had shown Bauer had died from breathing carbon monoxide fumes. He said the medical report showed the time between the onset of symptoms and death would have been measured in "minutes."

Turning to the death of Decatur man George E. Strong Jr., Decatur Police Officer Stephen Feurer said he died March 24 after being involved in a traffic collision at North Franklin and East Eldorado streets.

Strong, 81, had been northbound in his car when Feurer said witnesses described him running a red light and being struck on the passenger side by a slow moving sport utility vehicle around 2:34 p.m. "When I arrived on scene Mr. Strong was completely unresponsive, lying across the driver and passenger seats," added Feurer.

News reports from the time describe firemen reviving Strong with CPR but he died later in Decatur Memorial Hospital from heart failure triggered by his crash injuries, according to an autopsy. But Day told the jurors that Strong had been ill and hospitalized previously before the accident, and Feurer said doctors had told him Strong had likely suffered "a cardiac event" that caused the crash.

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Contact Tony Reid at (217) 421-7977. Follow him on Twitter: @TonyJReid

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