Palmetto man dies while battling camper fire with garden hose, officials say
A Palmetto man died while trying to extinguish a fire that engulfed his camper early Wednesday morning, according to the North River Fire District.
The department responded to reports of a fire around 12:45 a.m. on Wednesday in the 1100 block of 39th St. E. in Palmetto, the district said.
“First arriving units found a converted camper on fire with some exposed brush burning,” said Joseph Sicking, North River Fire District’s fire chief.
Further information about the victim, including their name and exact age, was not immediately available Thursday afternoon.
The man who died was described as elderly and the cause of the fire was “likely electrical,” according to Sicking.
Sicking said that firefighters were alerted by the family that a man had attempted to extinguish the fire with a garden hose, and he was later found dead at the scene.
The fire was extinguished, and the Fire Marshal and the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the incident.
