An early morning fire Sunday caused extensive damage to a portion of the James and Tonya Sullivan residence at 104 Shady Lane.
The Sullivan family, at home asleep when the fire started, were awakened by smoke detectors, and safely made it out of the house.
The fire apparently started in a newer portion of the residence, added in recent years, which included a family room, bathroom, and a garage. Members of the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department, who were called to the scene, battled the blaze and kept it from spreading to the rest of the house
Michael and Amanda Lattimore, who reside in an apartment complex in the area on West Main Street, smelled the smoke from where they live and set out on foot to see where it was coming from.
When the Lattimores reached the Sullivan residence, members of the Sullivan family were already coming out of the house. The Lattimores called 911 around 4:00 a.m.
No one was injured.
Smithville Fire Chief Charlie Parker says it appears the fire started in the attic and the cause may have been electrical, although the investigation as to the cause is not complete.

The DeKalb County Tigers defeated the Greenbrier Bobcats 46-27 Friday night in Smithville, and put to rest the program’s longest-running losing streak to an opponent. The Tigers had lost 14 straight to the Bobcats and had not beaten Greenbrier on the football field since 1979. With the win, DeKalb County’s record is now 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Region 4-3A.
Hunter Poteete accounted for 360 yards of total offense for the Tigers, and tallied six touchdowns, four through the air, but DeKalb County had to overcome an early deficit to keep their season record perfect.
Zack Ziegler gave Greenbrier the lead to open the contest, as he took the opening kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown. The Tigers answered, however, as Poteete threw a 48-yard touchdown to Abram Edwards, and a four-yard scoring pass to Matthew Lawrence, which gave DeKalb County a 13-7 lead. The Bobcats went back on top in the final minute of the first quarter, as Cody Elder’s 10-yard touchdown run made it a 14-13 game after the extra point kick.
Only one score went on the board in the second quarter, and that was put up by the Tigers, who scored on Poteete’s 40-yard strike to Edwards. The two-point conversion pass attempt was no good, but DC had a 19-14 lead, which they took into the locker room at halftime.
The Bobcats struck first in the second half, as Ziegler took off on an 81-yard touchdown dash with 9:58 remaining in the third quarter. The two-point conversion pass attempt failed, but the visitors forged ahead, 20-19. It would be Greenbrier’s final lead of the contest, however, as Travon Johnson recovered a Bobcat fumble on their next drive, and the Tigers converted the turnover into an 11-play, 51-yard drive which ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Poteete. The conversion pass failed, but the Tigers went ahead, 25-20.
John Curtis forced a fumble on the ensuing Greenbrier possession, but the Tigers came away empty-handed on the following drive. Lawrence, then, forced yet another Bobcat turnover on the next drive, as he jarred the ball loose from quarterback, Mason Head. Logan Roller recovered the pigskin for the Tigers, who scored on the very first play from scrimmage after the turnover on a 53-yard run by Poteete. Zach Taylor kicked the extra point to give DeKalb County a 32-20 lead.
The DeKalb defense forced a Greenbrier punt on the next possesion, and the offense put the game away on the following drive. Poteete dumped a screen pass to Ryan Leiser, who broke through the Bobcat defense for a 74-yard touchdown. Taylor kicked the extra point to make it a 39-20 Tiger lead.
Greenbrier would answer on a 54-yard sprint to paydirt by Elder, but Lawrence snagged the on-side kick attempt in the air to give the ball back to the Tigers. Lawrence put the icing on the victory with a two-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the game.
Poteete finished the night 14-of-28 through the air, with 270 passing yards and four touchdowns, In addition, he rushed for 90 yards on 20 carries and scored two more touchdowns. Lawrence carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and had both a rushing and receiving touchdown. Edwards also had two receiving touchdowns for the Tigers.
DeKalb County will have a bye next week, and will host Station Camp for Homecoming on Friday, September 19th. Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m., and WJLE will have live coverage.
Other Region 4-3A scores from Friday night: Macon County upset Pearl-Cohn in Nashville, 6-0, for their first win of the season. Both Macon County and Pearl-Cohn are 1-2 on the season. Station Camp knocked off Sycamore, 28-13. The Bison and the War Eagles are both 2-1 on the season. Station Camp opens up 1-0 in Region play. Meanwhile, White House was dealt a 41-6 setback by Alcoa for their first loss of the season. The Blue Devils were ranked #5 in Class AAA in this week’s AP poll.
Among other DeKalb County opponents, Warren County lost to Franklin County, 30-12. The Pioneers fall to 1-2 overall, this season. Watertown was whipped by Trousdale County, 45-7. Trousdale is ranked #1 in the State in Class A. The Purple Tigers fall to 1-2 with the loss. Cannon County was handed a Region loss by York Institute, 27-7. The Lions drop to 0-2, after losing their season opener to Sequatchie County, 16-13, last week. Upperman, meanwhile, fell to Westmoreland, 25-0. The Bees are now 1-2 on the season.

More than $23,000 was raised during a benefit for Michael Hale called “A Time to Shine” at DeKalb County High School Thursday evening.
Hundreds enjoyed a barbeque meal in the cafeteria and a concert of gospel and bluegrass music in the gymnasium by “Holy Crossing’, “Right on Time”, and Dailey & Vincent”. After the music, a benefit auction was held.
Spokesperson Casey Agee says a total of $23,200 was raised just on that one night alone from ticket sales to the supper, sales of tee shirts, the auction, and from donations.
All the money raised during the benefit goes to Michael Hale who is struggling to recover from the Guillian-Barre Syndrome, a disease he has suffered from since May.
Hale, who is on oxygen, attended the benefit and tearfully greeted well wishers throughout the evening.
Hale told WJLE that he is slowly getting better. “On Monday night, May 19th, I was fine at nine o’clock but at ten o’clock that night, it came on me. I went in the hospital on May 20th. It’s been a tough three and a half months but the good Lord has been with us all the way. I’m slowly getting better. I’m still going through physical therapy. I’m having some issues with my heart, my lungs, and other things. I’m on oxygen but I’m getting better everyday and I know it’s because of the prayers and the good Lord. We’re going to make it on through.”
“As far as recovery, the doctors are saying it’ll take probably 18 to 24 months, but I’m hoping to be back out soon. They say that the nerves heal back at the rate of an inch per month so that tells you how slow the healing process of Guillain-Barre is. I’ve been able to go to church. I’ve had the opportunity to preach four times at church. As far as the funeral home (DeKalb Funeral Chapel), I’ve been able to be at three funerals, but it just really drains me. I’m slowly getting to come back and to see the people.”
Hale says he and his family are touched by the tremendous show of love and support from the community. “No words could ever say how Tara and I feel for everything that’s been done for us, for the money that’s been given, the presence of the people here today, the cards, food, their continued support of the funeral home, and our ministry. The people of DeKalb County have been wonderful to us and there’s no way we could ever repay or express how much it means to us.”
Michael’s wife Tara also expressed her gratitude to the community.” I just want to thank the people for their support and their love. We couldn’t have done it without them but most of all we couldn’t have done it without the good Lord.”
Guillain-Barre Syndrome is a neurological disorder in which the body’s immune system attacks part of the Peripheral Nervous System. Characterized by muscle weakness, paralysis of the limbs, and breathing muscles, onset of the disorder is sudden and unexpected. It can develop over hours or days, or may take up to a month. Though possibly life threatening due to symptoms , most patients will recover from even the most severe cases.

Student Enrollment in the DeKalb County School System, as of the 20th day of school, is up by 70 students compared to this same time period last year.
Clay Farler, Attendance Supervisor, told WJLE Thursday that system-wide, DeKalb County has an enrollment to date of 3,006 (pre-k to 12th grade) compared to 2,936 after the 20th day of school last year.
Enrollment is up by 13 students at DeKalb County High School, up by 9 students in the Adult High School, up by 16 students at DeKalb Middle School, up by 72 students at Northside Elementary School, down by 36 students at Smithville Elementary School, and down by four students at DeKalb West School.
Farler explained the reason the enrollment is significantly higher at Northside and lower at Smithville Elementary is because four- second grade classes were moved to Northside to help relieve overcrowding at SES.
The enrollment numbers to date for 2008 and 2007 at each school are as follows:
DeKalb County High School-
Year 2008- 824
Year 2007- 811
Adult High School
Year 2008- 21
Year 2007- 12
DeKalb Middle School-
Year 2008- 545
Year 2007-529
Northside Elementary-
Year 2008-598
Year 2007-526
Smithville Elementary School-
Year 2008-616
Year 2007-652
DeKalb West School-
Year 2008-402
Year 2007-406

A Nashville man fell some 25 feet while climbing a ledge at Burgess Falls State Park Tuesday.
19 year old Caleb Tuck was seriously injured in the fall.
According to a report in the Herald-Citizen of Cookeville, Tuck suffered a broken jaw, a possible broken leg, and other injuries after landing on some rocks.
Members of the Putnam and White County Rescue Squads hiked down to Tuck and then carried him out in a basket.
He was treated at the scene by the Putnam County EMS and later airlifted by helicopter ambulance to a Nashville hospital.

The DeKalb County Tiger football team – off to a 2-0 start for the first time in 17 years – is ranked in this week’s Associated Press poll. The Tigers garned 17 votes for the top ten in Class 3A, which was good enough to place them at number-12 in the weekly poll. The poll was released by the Tennessean newspaper on Wednesday morning.
The ranking is believed to be the first for the Tiger football team since being ranked in the Nashville Banner’s top 5 early in the 1991 season.
David Lipscomb is the top-ranked team in Class 3A. Lipscomb pulled in 11 first place votes and 134 total points to earn the top spot just ahead of Knoxville Catholic, who had three first place votes and 127 total points. Lipscomb beat the Tigers’ opponent for this week – Greenbrier – 42-3, last Friday night. McMinn Central, Giles County and DeKalb’s Region 4-3A foe, White House, round out the top five.
Teams six through ten are as follows: Dyersburg, Knoxville Fulton, Jackson South Side Anderson County and Austin-East. Marshall County earned 19 points to earn the number-11 ranking, just two points ahead of the Tigers at number-12. Sheffield and Mitchell round out the poll’s top 14 spots.
Meanwhile, Tiger quarterback Hunter Poteete is the top-rated passer in the mid-state according to staistics collected by the Tennessean. Poteete is credited for 491 yards on 29-of-61 passing, with six touchdowns. Poteete is also listed among the mid-state’s rushing leaders with 146 yards on 38 carries and two touchdowns. J.J. Herriott and Abram Edwards are also ranked in the top ten in the mid-state in receiving. Herriott has nine catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns, while Edwards has six catches for 144 yards and a touchdown. Logan Roller and Matthew Collier are also mentioned among the tackle leaders. Roller is listed with 11 tackles, while Collier has 10 for the season.
The Tigers will welcome Greenbrier to the VanHooser Stadium, this Friday night, for the Region 4-3A opener for both teams. DeKalb County will be looking to snap a 14-game losing streak to the Bobcats, a team the Tigers have not beaten since the 1979 season. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night, and WJLE plans live coverage.