CLARKESVILLE — The woman whose Habersham County house caught fire during a storm early Sunday has died.
Alene R. Pence, 93, of Clarkesville died Monday at Northeast Georgia Medical Center of what Habersham County Coroner Kasey McEntire said were "complications as a result of smoke inhalation."
Pence's 6,000-square-foot home on Sam Bell Road outside Clarkesville caught fire just before 4 a.m. Sunday.
The storm-related fire started when "lightning hit a tree outside the residence then traveled via underground utilities into the HVAC system" of the home, igniting the fire, said Glenn Allen, spokesman for Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens.
The death will bring to 16 the number of fatalities across the state as a result of the weekend storms. Two people died in each Berrien and Brooks counties, seven died in Cook County, and four died in Dougherty County, according to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
