Man narrowly escapes burning home
YORKVILLE, Tenn. –A Gibson County man escapes his burning home Thursday morning, just seconds before it collapses. “I was asleep, almost dead asleep,” home owner Gregory Frye said. “Then I heard a sound. It sounded like hail hitting the roof of the house.” Frye says he was sleeping in a side bedroom before running to his neighbors house to call 911. “I had no phone, no wallet, no clothes, no sweats, nothing,” Frye said. “I didn’t have time for anything.” “Had the gentleman not woken up when he did and got out, there would have been nothing we could have done for him,” Gibson County Fire Chief Bryan Cathey said. According to Chief Cathey, the fire spread so fast because of strong winds hitting the side of the home, engulfing it in just minutes. “It was definitely a fast moving fire,” Chief Cathey said. “Once the fire broke out the wind pushed it through the house, underneath and on top, there was nothing we could do.” There were no working smoke detectors inside the home, according to investigators. Something Frye says he won’t let happen again. “Sometimes being careful is not enough,” Frye said. “I was just lucky I woke up.” With this weeks recent cold snap Frye says he had been using space heaters throughout the home. “Don’t use extension cords when you use space heaters,” Chief Cathey said. “Make sure you have working smoke alarms, tat’s the most important thing.” Chief Cathey says the cause of the fire is currently not linked to the space heaters but it is still under investigation. Chief Cathey also says his department is offering smoke detectors to Gibson County residents for free If you need one for your home, call the Gibson County Fire Department at (731) 723-9228.
