East Jackson house fire claims 1 life

EAST JACKSON — A deadly Monday morning house fire has left one person dead.

“When I woke up and heard the sirens, that’s what made me look outside and when I came outside, smoke was coming out the top of the house,” resident Rena Collins said.

The Jackson Fire Department confirms they were called to fatal fire around 8:30 a.m. at a home on East Chester Street. After they were able to get inside, they say one person was found dead.

“Right now, units from the Jackson Fire Department responded to a working structure fire at Chester and Hays a little after 8 this morning. After suppression efforts were finished, we discovered we did have one confirmed fatality inside the structure,” Jackson Fire Marshal Lamar Childress said.

Neighbors who live near the Chester Street home were shaken by the loss of life.

“It was sad because that person was probably asleep,” Thelma Williams said, who lives across the street.

Although the cause is still undetermined, residents said many homes in the area have older heating systems.

“It could have been anything. Most of these houses have space heaters, and in my house, we have fire places and gas heaters,” Collins explained.

Childress explained they do not suspect arson.

Both the Jackson Fire Department and Jackson Police Department are investigating. They say the body was sent to Nashville for autopsy to officially determine the cause of death.

The name of the victim has not been released.