by Jim Ashley, Rhea County Herald-News
posted December 1, 2005
A coffee pot is being blamed for a fire that destroyed a mobile home on Shaver Loop Road in Dayton.
According to Fire Investigator Chuck Kinney of the Rhea County Fire Department, the mobile home was rented by Roy L. and Betty Hurd and owned by Charlie and Nora Doughtery.
Kinney reported that Rhea County Fire Districts in Dayton, Frazier and Evensville were dispatched to the reported trailer fire. He said that when the firefighters arrived, the trailer was “fully engulfed in flames.”
Also, he said, a camper, two cars and a pickup truck were burning.
Approximately one hour later, Kinney noted, the fire was “completely extinguished,” and the mobile home and all contents were a total loss.
He said he camper and the two cars were also destroyed, and the pickup “suffered damage.”
There was no insurance on the camper or the vehicles, he said.
According to Mrs. Hurd, her husband and their son, Roy Hurd II, left to go fishing about 20 minutes prior to the fire breaking out.
She said that she had just gotten out of the shower when she smelled smoke and heard a popping sound in the kitchen.
She yelled to see if her husband was nearby, she said, but when she got no response, she “went to investigate.”
She said she then discovered the kitchen was completely on fire and that fire was coming from the stove area.
She said she grabbed a towel, exited out the back door next to the kitchen and ran to her neighbor’s residence to call 911 for help.
Roy Hurd said he and his son heard Mrs. Hurd scream while they were fishing and that when he looked toward the house, he saw flames coming from the rear kitchen window of the trailer.
He said he did not cook anything that morning, but did make a pot of coffee.
He insisted, however, that he did not leave the coffee pot on prior to leaving home, according to the fire department report.
Kinney said that based on the physical evidence, as well as statements from the tenants, the fire “appears to be accidental” and was “initiated by the coffee pot.”
Jim Ashley can be reached at jimashley@xtn.net.
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