NATCHEZ – A Friday morning fire claimed the life of a Natchez man and gutted a house at 1124 Martin Luther King Jr. St.

Tracy Simpson, 30, was killed in the fire, which fire officials said started in a bedroom at the front of the house as the result of an electrical short in a wall socket.

Simpson’s mother, Evelyn Davis, and another of Davis’ children, Reginald Simpson, were also in the house at the time of the fire, but both managed to escape.

But Tracy Simpson, who was mentally disabled, was trapped inside.

Davis was treated at the scene for minor burns to her face.

Bystanders called the Fire Department at 7:43 a.m., said Natchez Fire Chief Gary Winborne. Dale Eeling of Vidalia, La., one of the bystanders, spotted the fire after driving his daughter to Cathedral School.

He broke down the house’s front door and tried to enter to help Simpson to safety but could not because the blaze was too intense, officials said.

&uot;Another man tried to go in, too, but he couldn’t because there was too much smoke and fire,&uot; Eeling said. &uot;I felt bad that there was nothing we could do.&uot;

The first fire truck arrived on the scene within three minutes of the 911 call, with another truck arriving one minute later, Winborne said.

&uot;But it was an older wood-frame house, so it burned pretty quickly,&uot; he said.

Winborne said the fire was contained with 15 minutes and that no other structures were damaged and no other injuries had been reported.

Employees at Natchez Regional Medical Center, where Davis worked in security, are collecting donations to help the family, said family friend Coretta Oliver.

&uot;We’re sending e-mails to every (hospital) department asking them to make donations,&uot; said Lawrence Warner, one of Davis’ co-workers at the hospital.

As of Friday afternoon, no fund had been opened for the public to make donations to the family, who lost most of their possessions in the fire.