McKenzie firemen respond to two fires in 24 hours

MCKENZIE, Tenn. — Two house fires in 24 hours have safety officials in one local city speaking out.

On Sunday morning, a house on Paris Pike in McKenzie caught fire. Less than 24 hours later, a house, only a mile away on Stonewall Street. also went up in flames.

“There were 17 McKenzie firemen at the first structure fire, 17 McKenzie firemen at the second,” said McKenzie Fire Department Battalion Chief Jason Arnold.

There was major damage to both houses, and Arnold says both calls took more than three hours to clear up.

Thankfully, no one was killed in these two fires, but officials still urge residents to be mindful of fire hazards during the holidays.

“In the wintertime, I know a lot of places do have structure fires due to space heaters and all that,” Arnold said. “The past few years we haven’t had many structure fires.”

Despite the back-to-back fires Sunday and Monday, Arnold says those type of responses aren’t common in McKenzie.

“In the past year, we’re on the same track for the amount of structure fires we usually have within the area,” Arnold said.

Arnold identified two factors in making sure you are prepared in case a fire starts.

“The main things that we stress is having a working smoke detector. Make sure you have batteries that are operable, and have a fire extinguisher available in case a fire happens,” Arnold said.

Firefighters from Gleason, Martin and Carroll County assisted in those fires.

The exact cause of the fires is still under investigation.