Obese man dies in mobile home fire

updated 5:25 p.m. ET Oct. 16, 2005

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - A fire destroyed a mobile home, killing a 600-pound, homebound man who could not be moved out in time despite the efforts of neighbors and firefighters.

Timothy Lee Morris, 45, called 911 from his home when it caught fire Saturday afternoon but couldn’t get out by himself, fire officials said. His daughters, ages 8 and 13, summoned neighbors, but they were unable to move him.

“He was in the front room. We tried and tried to yank him out,” said neighbor Clinton Turner. “He kept saying, ’Help,’ but we couldn’t get him out.”

Authorities said police and firefighters eventually were able to put Morris on a backboard and slide him out the front door. Morris had several health problems, including breathing complications.

“Timmy probably didn’t get burned at all,” Battalion Chief John Nelson said. “He probably died from smoke inhalation.”

Two firefighters were treated at a hospital for heat exhaustion and smoke inhalation. They were “very emotionally distraught they couldn’t get him out,” Nelson said.

The fire was blamed on an electrical short. The girls’ mother wasn’t home at the time.

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