Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Hendrick has released the identities of the three people killed in a house fire just after midnight Wednesday.
Hendrick says Hugh Elliot, 85, died in the fire along with brothers Austin Daniel Elliott, 9, and Connor Lynn Elliott, 7.
Elliott had custody of the boys and was their grandfather.
Horry County Fire Rescue spokeswoman Leslie Yancey says the fire was called in around 12:30 a.m. on Lake Pond Road just outside of Loris.
When firefighters arrived, they found a double wide home fully engulfed.
Yancey originally said that a woman and two children had died in the fire. We later learned it was the children's grandfather who was inside.
Horry County Fire Chief Garry Alderman says a fire captain, who lives near the home, was first on the scene within a few minutes after the fire was called in. He said the home was about 50 percent consumed when he got there.
"The fire was through the roof and he went around the back to try to come in the back door and he said there was no way he could even get in the door back there, the house was so charged with smoke and heat," Alderman said.
Alderman said his fire crews installed smoke detectors in the home about a year ago. He said he didn't know if the smoke detectors were working at the time of the fire.
He said the investigation into the cause of the fire has just begun. "As much damage as there was to the house out there, it'll take investigators probably through most of the morning to try to determine and dig through it and determine what may have caused this fire," Alderman said.
We will continue to post more details throughout the day.
An autopsy is being performed on the grandfather and the two boys to determine an exact cause of death.
There are counselors and support staff members available at Green Sea Floyds Elementary where the boys went to school.
Hugh Elliot was a World War II Veteran, who attended Horry County's Honor Flight in 2010.
