Brownsville mother of 2 dies in weekend apartment fire

ALAMO, Tenn. — Friends and loved ones continue to mourn after the loss of a Brownsville mother in a Saturday house fire.

Sarah Mann

“It was about 11:45 late last night,” neighbor Duane Goldsmith said. “My daughter hollered that she saw flames outside, and I came running out. I called 911 to report it, that the apartment was fully involved and someone was trapped inside.”

The fire took the life of Sarah Mann, a 40-year-old Brownsville mother of two.

Josh Haynes, 29, who was also in the apartment at the time, says he did all he could in an attempt to save her life.

“I went straight to the window trying to get her out,” Haynes said. “I threw a bike against the window to break the window to try to get her out, and everybody was hollering.”

But the heat from the flames prevented anyone from getting close enough to the residence. Flames that Josh says engulfed his home in a matter of minutes.

Officials pronounced Sarah dead at the scene.

“My daughter had just talked to the young lady earlier that afternoon, and then all of a sudden, six hours later or whatever, she’s gone,” Goldsmith said. “Just a total tragedy.”

The Alamo Fire Department says there were no signs of smoke detectors in the apartment at the time of the blaze.

“Your smoke detector’s your first line of defense in your home,” Alamo Fire Department Chief Timmy Williams said. “They’re set to wake you up. That’s their purpose. We want everyone to have one of those.”

Officials say the cause of the fire may have been an electric heater in the wall. However, this has not been confirmed and is still under investigation.

Chief Williams says if you do not have a smoke detector in your home, contact your local fire department and set up an appointment to have them install one for you. He also says to regularly check your batteries.