Bradford house fire kills one; TBI investigating
BRADFORD, Tenn. — A late-night house fire on Smith Street in Bradford left one person dead Monday, according to Bradford Police Chief Clayton Westbrooks.
Chief Westbrooks said responders were dispatched to the scene at approximately 11:20 p.m. Monday.
Both the Gibson County Fire Department and the Bradford Fire Department responded. When first responders arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames.
Once the fire was extinguished and crews made entry, one individual was found deceased under rubble, Chief Westbrooks said. The victim was the grandmother of Phillip Carroll, a Gibson County Fire Department employee.
Carroll said he was alerted to the fire after receiving a call and, upon realizing it was his grandmother’s house, rushed to the scene. He said he could see the flames from approximately a mile away.
“This was a childhood home. We stayed here more than we stayed at home. Our bedroom was the living room. We did everything. She got up early every morning to make us breakfast before school and it’s just going to be hard to know she’s gone,” Carroll said.
Carroll said the loss of his grandmother will be difficult to cope with.
“Knowing that she’s gone is going to be a rough one,” Carroll said.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been contacted and is now investigating the cause of the fire.
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