The Covert Township Police Department is investigating a fatal fire on Friday. It tells us the Covert Township Fire Department, Michigan State Police, the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Department, South Haven Area Emergency Services, and Pokagon Tribal Police all responded to the 29,000 block of 76th Street just before 7 a.m. for the fire at a mobile home. It was a single-wide with one occupant, and when responders arrived, the home was fully engulfed. Crews found 75-year-old Jerry Lee Rawson on the ground outside. They believe he managed to crawl out of a window. Emergency crews performed CPR and Rawson was taken to Bronson South Haven Hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy will be performed. Fire personnel believe the cause of the blaze was misuse of a portable propane heater.
