Dry Weather Sparks Fires in Gibson County
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BRADFORD, Tenn. — Dry windy conditions have increased the risk of fire throughout West Tennessee. The weather, combined with a common practice of putting out fires, has sparked numerous of blazes throughout Gibson County. Katherine Boyce’s shop went up in flames Thursday afternoon. Fire officials say the blaze was sparked by ashes from a fire Boyce’s brother extinguished days before. “I seen some smoke and I didn’t pay much attention, and then I looked back and I seen some flames,” Katherine Boyce, a fire victim, said. “They smoldered in the can for two days, and he just poured them outside, introduced it to air, and it spread to his shop and burnt it down,” Bryan Cathey with the Gibson County Fire Department said. Boyce is bound to her wheelchair and her brother wasn’t home, so she was left helpless while the fire burned. She says the family lost thousands of dollars in tools, a lawn mower and a new tractor. “It was pretty bad, and it hurt him worse i guess than it did anybody because the stuff that burnt belonged to him,” Boyce said. Just four miles down the road, a family’s barn caught fire early Friday morning. Once again, fire officials say ashes from a wood-burning stove are to blame. “Till we get significant rain, it would be great if people not burn outside,” Cathey said. “And please dispose of their ashes properly. Put them in a hole, leave them in a can, fill the can half full of water.” Before you start a controlled fire, call your local fire department to make sure there isn’t a burn ban.
