A Sumter County, South Carolina, woman died recently after a fire started in her house when someone put a foil-wrapped sandwich into a microwave oven.

Thommie Jackson, 67, shared her house with her sister, who was not named by authorities. On the evening of May 23, one of the pair tried to heat up a sandwich inside packaging that contained foil, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said in a post on Facebook Thursday.

The microwaves inside ovens can’t pass through metal into food and can spark flames on and among the foil, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Unspecified “poor living conditions” at the Jackson home hindered attempts to put out the fire by responding firefighters and sheriff’s deputies.

A door was forced open, but thick smoke deterred the deputies from going farther into the house. Ms. Jackson’s sister, who had gotten out of the house, told first responders to check the window of a room she thought Ms. Jackson might be in.

Ms. Jackson was recovered from the house and taken to a local hospital, where she died.

The fire has been ruled accidental, and Ms. Jackson’s exact cause of death is still being determined, SCSO wrote on Facebook.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.