Gibson Co. firefighters treated for dehydration after battling 2 fires in 1 night

GIBSON COUNTY, Tenn. — At least 18 Gibson County firefighters were treated for dehydration after battling two fires in one night.

“Last night was a really tough night for all the guys and girls in the department,” Gibson County Fire Chief Bryan Cathey said.

Cathey said firefighters responded just after 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to a fire on Marion Dodd Loop. The house belongs to a former Gibson County deputy chief.

No one was home, but several firefighters became dehydrated while fighting the blaze that took three hours to put out.

Cathey said summer months are brutal on firefighters.

“It would be like putting on a pair of Sears old insulated coveralls and going out in this heat and running around,” he said.

But just as they had the flames under control, another house caught fire 10 miles away on Huntingdon Street.

“We found the house was abandoned,” Trenton Fire Chief Terrence Elam said. “It was fully engulfed, and it started spreading to the neighboring house.”

Elam says it took three hours to extinguish the fire he’s calling suspicious.

“There was no power to the house or the house next door,” he said. “And we actually fought a house fire here while it was vacant about a year ago.”

Neighbors said the house was fully engulfed within five minutes.

“I just thank God that it was empty, and my neighbors down the road didn’t get hurt because it went up quick,” neighbor Casey Jumper said.

The cause of both fires is still under investigation. If you have any information, call the Gibson County Fire Department at 731-686-2191.