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Kings Mountain grandfather killed in mobile home fire

By Mark Barber
By Mark Barber

KINGS MOUNTAIN, N.C. — A large overnight fire killed a beloved father and grandfather in Kings Mountain on Friday morning.

66-year-old James Partlow was killed when a fire ripped through his mobile home.

The mobile home was on Pat Court, about a mile off Exit 8 of I-85.

The man's heartbroken family said Partlow had two daughters and two grandsons.

They spent hours on Friday, searching tirelessly through all the rubble to find anything left of his to hold on to.

"I can't think right now, you know, I can't," said Partlow's cousin Debora Odoms.

She has a hard time recognizing the pile of twisted metal and charred wood as the home where her cousin lived.

"I just can't believe it. I can't believe it. I'm looking at it but it doesn't feel like it's true but it is because I'm looking at it," she described.

She lived close enough to help but she never knew he was in trouble.

"We heard the fire trucks and we didn't imagine, you know, you don't it's right here, your own people," she said.

Firefighters rushed to the home after midnight when a neighbor spotted the fire and called for help.

"He went to church every Sunday," Odoms said.

Partlow's family also visited him often. They were there on Thursday night and when they left, it was like any other night.

They say he was at peace.

As his hurting family picked through the debris on Friday, searching for mementos, his daughter finally found the Bible he treasured.

The burned pages were still together, a priceless discovery to help them remember the man who loved his God and adored his family.

"He's going to be missed, he really is," said Odoms.

While firefighters are checking to see if a kerosene heater sparked the fire, they said it will likely take another two days to figure out how the fire started.

Partlow's family said his kerosene heater was turned off when they left his home on Thursday night.

At this time, investigators have ruled out foul play.

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