LUMBERTON — A visibly shaken Tommy Branch stood on Wednesday a few feet from where his brother had died the night before when he got more devastating news.

His nephew, who was confined to a wheelchair, had died as well, bringing to two the number of people killed in the Tuesday night fire.

“Jeffrey died,” Branch said in a small voice.

“Chapel Hill called?” said a friend.

Branch nodded.

Tommy Branch, 66, is the brother of Jimmy Branch, 75, who died in the house fire at 5138 Singletary Church Road. Jeffrey, 50, was Jimmy’s handicapped son. Jeffrey was airlifted to UNC Burn Center after being pulled from the burning single-wide mobile home and died there from his injuries

The two men had died despite efforts from Tommy to save them.

“I got him out, but I couldn’t get Jimmy out,” Branch said before turning away.

The mobile home was beside Tommy Branch’s home, where the father and son lived after Hurricane Matthew chased them out of their home October. The two men moved into the mobile home five months ago.

“He lost everything he had in the hurricane,” the friend said.

Jeffrey Branch had been in a wheelchair since he was 18 years old, the friend said. He was paralyzed from the waist down.

The fire remains under investigation by the Robeson County Sheriff’s Office, but investigators believe it started with a kitchen stove.

Capt. Brian Duckworth, a sheriff’s fire investigator, was at the mobile home Wednesday afternoon shifting through the debris. Allenton Volunteer Fire Department firefighters were there helping Duckworth pull the wreckage apart.

The firefighters were called back to the home because it still was smoking, said Steve Lewis, assistant fire chief of the Allenton Volunteer Fire Department. They needed to make sure the fire was extinguished completely.

Deputies and firefighters responded to a call about the fire at 10:53 p.m. Tuesday, according to sheriff’s Maj. Anthony Thompson said. The home was fully ablaze when deputies arrived.

The Britt’s and East Howellsville volunteer fire departments, the Lumberton Rescue Squad and county Emergency Medical Service also responded to the fire.

Robeson County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Brian Duckworth, center, investigates on Wednesday the remains of a fire on Singletary Church Road that killed two people. Allenton Volunteer Fire Department firefighters were on the scene to help Duckworth and make sure the fire was extinguished completely.

https://www.robesonian.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/web1_Fire-3_1.jpgRobeson County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Brian Duckworth, center, investigates on Wednesday the remains of a fire on Singletary Church Road that killed two people. Allenton Volunteer Fire Department firefighters were on the scene to help Duckworth and make sure the fire was extinguished completely.