Laurens County teacher dies in house fire

HARRISON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – One person is dead and two others are injured after an early morning fire.

It happened Friday morning just after 4:30 at a home off Wrightsville/Riddleville Road.

47-year-old Shelly Tanner died in the fire. Her husband, 48-year-old Vince Tanner, and 15-year-old son Joseph, we’re injured.

”She woke him (Vince) up to tell him the house was on fire. They immediately went to try and find the son. They were all trying to get out. They were close to getting to the door. I think that’s where they lost contact with her,” Washington County Sheriff Joel Cochran said.

Vince and Joseph made it out of the home. Cochran says Vince attempted to save his wife.

”He tried to go back in with a water hose to try and locate her, but wasn’t able to find her,” Cochran said.

Shelly was a teacher in the Laurens County School District. The District released a statement:

”Shelly has been a faithful member of Team Laurens since August 2008. We have been blessed by her fun-loving spirit, passion for her work and the love she showed everyone. Please keep her family, friends, and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers… as we all process and navigate through her untimely death. RIP Shelly.. we will love you forever.”

The cause of the fire is still being investigated.

Joseph is at a Burn Center in Augusta recovering, and Vince is at a local hospital. Both have non-life threatening injuries.