FRIENDSVILLE, Tenn. — Update (1/12/22)
Blount County Sheriff’s investigators identified the woman found dead after a fire at a mobile home in Friendsville on Dec. 20.
BCSO said Mildred Tilitha Nichols, 47, was found dead in a burned mobile home on Hamil Road.
Investigators said they are awaiting the results of an autopsy performed at the Knox County Regional Forensic Center to determine her exact cause of death.
Investigators assigned to the Blount County Fire Investigation Team ruled the fire was accidental and caused by a propane heater inside the bedroom where Nichols was sleeping, according to BCSO.
Original Story
Blount County authorities are looking into the circumstances behind the death of a woman found in a burned mobile home in Friendsville.
According to the Blount County Sheriff's Office, authorities were alerted about 6:15 p.m. Monday about the blaze on Hamil Road.
"Firefighters with Friendsville Volunteer Fire Department and Greenback Volunteer Fire Department located the body of a woman inside of the mobile home following the fire," according to a news release from the Sheriff's Office.
A man who lived there, identified as Brandon Don Seaton, 36, was arrested and charged with public intoxication.
The woman's name hasn't been released. Her identity was still being confirmed.
The Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville was conducting an autopsy and toxicology screen, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"The investigation into the cause and origin of the fire is ongoing," according to the Sheriff's Office.
Seaton is at the Blount County Correctional Facility being held in lieu of a $1,000 bond pending a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court. The hearing was to be held Wednesday morning.