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Investigation Continues Into Fatal Fire (Photos: Inside And Outside Of Home)

Fire investigators are still working to determine the cause of the fire that claimed the life of Verda Mae Gandy Abrams, 91, early Thursday morning.

Abrams was unable to escape the blaze at her home on Tulip Street, located on the Alabama/Florida state line just west of Flomaton and Century.

Verda Mae’s son Jimmy Abrams told fire investigators that he awoke to the smell of smoke just after 1 a.m.. He left his bedroom and went toward the kitchen of the home, looking for the source of the smoke, according to Alabama Deputy State Fire Marshal Ken Smith.  He opened a sliding glass door on the rear of the home to get some air and relief from the smoke.

Jimmy was unable to reenter the home due the smoke. He ran around the outside the home to his son’s window and managed to wake him. The son escape through the window.

However, Smith said, Jimmy  Abrams pounded on the windows of Verda Mae’s window, but he was unable to get his mother out of her bedroom located on the rear corner of the house. Unlike the large windows on the front of the home, the windows on Verda Mae’s bedroom were smaller and located higher off the ground. That may have contributed to her inability to escape, Smith said.

“It’s really hard,” Flomaton Fire Chief  Steve Stanton said. Flomaton had not had a fire death in at least 34 years.

Smith spent Thursday morning carefully sifting through the remains of the brick home, looking for any evidence that might help him pinpoint the cause of the blaze, documenting everything with photographs.

There no working smoke detectors in the home, according to Jimmy Abrams.

“Please, please let his be encouragement to people that they need good, working smoke detectors,” Smith said.

For a photo gallery from the aftermath of the fire showing both the inside and outside of the home, click here.

For our original story, with photos as the home burns, click here.

Pictured top and bottom: The scene of a fatal fire on Tulip Street early Thursday morning. Pictured bottom inset: Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Smith photographs the inside of the home. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.