Man dies in Macon house fire

A father and son awoke to fire early Monday, but only one of them made it out alive.

Walter Simmons III suffered multiple burns on his body and was found dead near the den of one-story brick ranch house at 1470 Longacre Drive.

The 40-year-old apparently was trying to put out the fire, which investigators believe started in his bedroom in the right front side of the house, which not far from Edna Place on Macon's west side.

Walter Simmons Jr., who suffers from Parkinson's disease, escaped.

"The way I understand it, he woke up to the sound of the smoke detector," said Ananias Simmons, the elder Simmons' brother and uncle of the victim. "It was so smoky, he couldn't see."

The surviving Simmons told his family that his son knocked on his door and told him he needed some water because there was a fire, Ananias Simmons said.

The son apparently dragged his burning mattress into the hall as his father left through the carport door on the other end of the house.

Macon-Bibb County Fire Investigator Steve Wesson said the house sustained heavy fire damage.

"With the carport door open, it allowed ventilation to pull fire through the house," Wesson said.

The elder Simmons continually called out to his son to come out, but there was no answer.

A neighbor called 911 just after 2:30 a.m. Monday.

Firefighters found the mattress burned down to the coils in the hallway of the home.

The son may have been trying to get out when he collapsed on the way to the carport door.

"He had multiple burns," said Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones. "We don't know exactly what happened, but there was a smoke detector in the house."

Wesson searched through the rubble of the son's bedroom trying to determine the exact point of origin.

By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had spread through the attic toward the carport and the son could not get out, said Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins.

"Preliminarily, it appears that he was overcome by smoke, at this point," Riggins said.

Bibb County sheriff's investigators routinely responded, but the blaze appeared to be accidental, according to Deputy Linda Howard, spokeswoman for the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

Ananias Simmons said family members were finding a place for his brother to stay since the house is heavily damaged.

Simmons, who lives next door to his nephew's mother, said his nephew had served in the military and lived with his father.

"He was a nice fella," Simmons said. "A lot of times, I see him out there. He comes out there and checks on his mother and stays out there and helps a lot."

Come back to macon.com for updates and read Tuesday's Telegraph.

This story was originally published February 15, 2016 at 8:47 AM with the headline "Man dies in Macon house fire ."