Turner County Residential Fire Fatality
A house fire in the early hours of Thursday, May 11th claimed the life of 80-year-old Diane Bagley of Hurley.
The fire was called in by a neighbor at 4:30 a.m. after a nearby lightning strike caused them to investigate their own home. The initial call was for a possible strike on the house and smoke odor.
Hurley volunteer fire department was dispatched and mutual aid departments from Viborg and Parker were immediately notified for mutual aid.
First arriving crews began a preliminary search to locate the homeowner and start suppression tasks. The fire was located in the basement of the structure and caused portions of the main floor to collapse. It was determined to be unsafe for an interior attack.
Crews were able to extinguish the fire and located Ms. Bagley during secondary search operations.
South Dakota Fire Marshal officials were called to the scene to investigate the incident. Due to the extent of property and fire damage, the cause of the fire remains under investigation at this time.
Agencies responding to the incident included Hurley, Viborg, Parker, Davis, and Chancellor volunteer fire departments, Hurley Ambulance, Turner County Sheriff’s office, Viborg PD, Southeastern Electrical Cooperative, TM Rural Water, and the Hurley city maintenance department.