Morning fire leaves house a total loss for homeowner

TRENTON, Tenn. — Flames could still be seen burning Wednesday afternoon from a fire that left a house on Charlie Lewis Road in ashes.

“Gone; everything; everything is gone; all but what I got on,” said house fire victim Johnny Fuller.

With family members still in shock, Fuller says the house belonged to his mom and dad.

“That’s what’s so bad about it, and if they knew that,” Fuller said, “they would turn over in their grave.”

“There was just a lot of memories in it and stuff, and I just cant believe it’s burnt. It’s just crazy,” said former resident Jennifer Crowe. “It’s just really bad.”

Chief Bryan Cathey of the Gibson County Fire Department says they responded to a call around 8:15 am.

“There was flames coming out of the back attic, and the whole back part of the house was on fire,” said Cathey, “and then there was heavy smoke showing out the front of the house and the side of the house.”

Fire fighters suspect this blaze started from a space heater plugged into an old outlet.

“The modern stuff, and you hook it up to the old electricity; it’s a recipe for danger,” the fire chief said.

And Chief Cathey says the ice and snow covered roads have made responding to emergencies more difficult.

There were left over tracks from where Chief Cathey says the one tanker they were able to maneuver up the icy street, slid off the road and into a ditch.

“Some of our trucks are hauling 2000, 3000 gallons of water. They can’t stop very fast on this ice. They can’t go very fast. It was just too dangerous,” Cathey said.

No one was injured in the fire. Fuller is currently staying with family and the American Red Cross has been contacted to assist him.