County volunteer firefighters spent the better part of their holiday weekend fighting fires, some of them triggered by lightning.
Assistant County Fire Chief Roy Merriman says a fire was reported Sunday at 7:12 p.m. at the residence of Charles Jaco on the Allen Bend Road in the Belk Community. The residence is a rent home, belonging to Doug and Helen Smoot. According to Merriman, a neighbor, John Michael, spotted the fire, entered the residence, and assisted Jaco safely outside. Jaco had been asleep on the couch. Members of the Blue Springs, Keltonburg, Belk, and Short Mountain Highway stations responded along with the tanker truck. The fire caused extensive damage.
On Sunday afternoon, lightning struck a three story cedar lake home belonging to Dr.Jonas Sidrys on Austin Lake Road, sparking a fire in the basement. The Sidrys, who were home at the time, smelled smoke and discovered the blaze. They extinguished it with a garden hose as firefighters were enroute. Members of the Austin Bottom, Cookeville Highway, and Short Mountain Highway Stations responded along with mutual aid assistance from the Putnam County Fire Department. No one was injured.
Early Sunday morning, a fire destroyed a home, belonging to Frank Morris, on Gene Vaughn Road. The Belk, Keltonburg, an Blue Springs Stations responded.
A lightning strike Saturday night caused a fire at the residence of Jerry Cripps at Alexandria. Chief Donny Green says lightning ran in on a telephone line, starting a fire in an exterior wall of the living room. Firefighters opened up the wall and extinguished the blaze. The Cripps’, who were home at the time, were not injured. The Alexandria Fire Department was first on the scene, providing mutual aid assistance to the county. Members of the Liberty, Short Mountain Highway, and Main Stations also responded.
Meanwhile on Friday at 10:32 p.m. DeKalb 911 dispatchers received a call of a house fire at 138 Holiday Haven Road. Lieutenant Bradley Mullinax says the home was rental property owned by Doug Stephens. The structure was reportedly fully involved with fire when fire crews arrived on the scene. The owner of the residence arrived and reported that the home was unoccupied. The DeKalb County Fire Department’s Cookeville Highway, Short Mountain, and Main Stations were dispatched to render aid on the scene along with the department’s tanker truck and manpower from additional stations. The house could not be saved. No one was injured in the incident and the cause of the fire is unknown.
Also, on Friday at 10:11 p.m. DeKalb 911 dispatchers received a call from Warren County 911 requesting a mutual aid fire response from the Keltonburg and Blue Springs stations of the DeKalb County Fire Department. Lieutenant Mullinax says Keltonburg’s response unit and man power from the Blue Springs station assisted Warren County Fire Fighters with a structure fire on I D Adcock Road in Warren County.
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