Elderly Couple Dies During Saturday Morning Fire

A fire Saturday morning destroyed the home of James and Zora Inez Tramel at 181 Man Hill Road, Dowelltown in the Snow Hill Community.
The bodies of an elderly couple, now identified as the Tramels, were found inside the home.
Firefighters were called to the scene at 9:09 a.m. County Fire Chief Donny Green says he and a county deputy were the first to arrive. ” When we got there, fire was coming out of the front of the house. The care givers of Mr. and Mrs. Tramel were outside. They informed me there were two people in the house. Both were invalid. The elderly woman was in a bedroom toward the front of the house where there was heavy fire. The elderly man was in a bedroom at the rear of the house. The deputy and I went around behind the house and attempted to go in the back door to access the bedroom. But when we opened the door, there was heavy smoke and intense heat. Fire crews then arrived. They put on their protective equipment and made entry into the man’s bedroom, where he was found in bed. The firefighters removed him through a bedroom window. EMS evaluated him and determined he was deceased.”
“Because the fire was so intense, we (firefighters) had to bring it under control before we could make entry to locate the woman’s body. Her body was in bed, in a bedroom at the front of the home.”
Sheriff Patrick Ray says three other people had been in the home Saturday morning prior to the fire, a female caregiver of the Tramels, the caregiver’s husband, and a daughter of the Tramels. The caregiver was not at the residence when the fire started. She had gone to the grocery store. Her husband was tending to the elderly man and the Tramel’s daughter was elsewhere in the home when the fire began. After discovering the blaze, Sheriff Ray says the caregiver’s husband and the daughter tried unsuccessfully to get the elderly couple out of the home. Other than his hair being singed, the caregiver’s husband and the daughter escaped unharmed.
The bodies were transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Nashville for an autopsy. The State Fire Marshal was called to assist the Sheriff’s Department in the investigation. The cause of the fire has apparently not been determined.
Sheriff Ray praised the county fire fighters for doing a superb job under difficult circumstances. “They risked their own lives and I am very proud of them. I know that members of the deceased’s family are also grateful to our firefighters.”
Members of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department from the Cookeville Highway, Liberty, Belk, Blue Springs, and the Main Stations were all on site during the fire along with Tanker #1, two units from DeKalb EMS, and the Sheriff’s Department.