Elderly man dies in house fire

Feb. 4—MOULTRIE, Ga. — An elderly Moultrie man lost his life in an accidental fire Friday.

The body of Kinsey Shaw, 73, was found inside his home at 517 Third St. S.E. after the fire, which was reported about 10 p.m., according to a release from Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner John F. King's office.

Moultrie Police Cpl. Jimmy Catoni was one of the first responders on the scene.

"Upon arrival I saw several subjects with a water hose spraying water through a doorway and thick black/gray smoke coming from the door and the top of the residence roof vents," Catoni wrote in his report.

One of the people with the water hose told Catoni that a handicapped, older man was still inside the house. He and a police lieutenant who arrived to assist got the people back from the house for their safety, and Catoni tried to enter the residence with the same water hose they'd been using, but the thick smoke and bad visibility stopped him.

Both officers called for Shaw and they broke windows to try to see into the house, but they could not contact him, Catoni's report said.

Moultrie firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire. They found Shaw's body inside the house. The fire department report on the incident was not available Thursday.

The Fire Investigations Unit of Commissioner King's office assisted the Moultrie fire and police departments with the investigation and linked the blaze to an extension cord in the bedroom.

"This terrible accident appears to have been caused by a spliced extension cord powering multiple items in a bedroom," King said. "Unfortunately, while the fire was mainly contained to the bedroom, it did lead to Mr. Shaw's death. His body was turned over to the Colquitt County Coroner's Office for further evaluation."

Less than a month into the new year, this marks the 18th death from a Georgia fire in 2021, King's office said.

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