Firefighters putting out flames in field.
On Feb. 8, Hamblen Township Volunteer Fire Department, Fruitdale Volunteer Fire Department and Trafalgar Fire Department responded to a call on 4488 Peoga Road where there were reports of a structure and woods fire. Neighbor, Aaron Wentworth, noticed the fire and called the authorities. The address is next to the Brown and Johnson county line, so departments from both counties were dispatched.
“I saw it for about 20 minutes before I called. I noticed the smoke turning black, so I thought I better call,” Aaron said. His father, Roger Wentworth, was dropping off his granddaughter with Aaron, and noticed the neighbors were not home to address the fire. Roger said they began raking and stomping as much of the fire as they could, in hopes to stop the flames from spreading before the fire departments arrived.
“Then I pulled that tractor out of there [the field], because the fire started getting to it. I don’t want to imagine what would have happened if that thing caught on fire,” Roger said.
There were two small sheds on fire, both directly behind the house. The Trafalgar Fire Department arrived on the scene first. Homeowner Jerry Curry was not home at the time of the fire. Curry said he was on the way to dinner when he received several phone calls from concerned neighbors.
“My son was the only one home. He was burning trash earlier in the day, that’s the only thing I can think,” Curry said. “That entire shed is gone, it was the kid’s playhouse. Well, we’ll just have to deal with it, that’s the only thing we can do now.”
Jerry Cowan, volunteer firefighter for the Hamblen Volunteer Fire Department, said that while they could not deduce the cause of the fire directly, a small piece of burning trash was a very plausible idea.
“With how windy it was today, all it would take is one small piece of plastic to get blown out of the trash and onto a building,” Cowan said.
The fire departments sprayed down the entire field and buildings, checking for small flames that kept rising out of the ashes.
“We try to put the hotspots out so we don’t get another call at midnight,” Cowan said.
One of the sheds burned to the ground, while the other was left standing. The field was burned, but the fire did not reach the woods or house. There were no casualties.
