Fire claims life of man last week

A local man perished in an early morning house fire east of Clarendon last Thursday, December 12.

Mac Charles Dunham, age 42, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn. An autopsy later confirmed smoke inhalation was the cause of death, the sheriff said.

The Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched about 4:23 a.m. to a report of a structure fire on north FM 1260 with a person possibly inside. When firefighters arrived about 12 minutes later, they found a motor home fully involved and already burned up, Fire Chief Jeremy Powell said.

“You couldn’t even tell what it was really,” Powell said of the damage caused to the motor home.

Firemen extinguished the blaze and discovered Dunham’s remains.

Blackburn said Dunham had been living in the motor home with Cynthia Ann Shults, 60. The sheriff reported that the couple was woken by smoke. Shults was able to escape through a window, but Dunham was overcome by smoke before he could escape, the sheriff said.

The State Fire Marshall’s office investigated the scene and determined that an improperly set up propane heater was the cause of the fire, Blackburn and Powell said.