MONCKS CORNER — A woman was killed earlier this week as a result of arson at a home in the Pineville area of Berkeley County, authorities say.
Berkeley County sheriff's deputies responded early Aug. 8 to an alarm at the woman's house on Pineville Circle, a sparsely wooded residential street off S.C. Highway 45, Cpl. Carli Drayton said.
Smoke poured out from the burning residence as neighbors warned that the homeowner may be trapped inside. Dispatchers sent firefighters to the house and they forced their way inside, where the woman was found dead, Drayton said.
Investigators determined someone intentionally started the fire. Detectives and crime scene technicians are treating the woman's death as a homicide, Drayton said.
“All available manpower is investigating this case," Sheriff Duane Lewis said. "This was a horrendous act of violence and not typical of the Pineville community.”
The Berkeley County Coroner's Office has not identified the woman.
The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information about the incident to contact the department at 843-723-3800.
