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Heather Bryant of 555 Thomas Circle in Seymour had just left her home about 10 minutes earlier to go to the bank when she received a call that her home was on fire. Heather’s husband, Dave, was also notified and both returned to their home to see smoke billowing from the interior.
The fire was reported at approximately 11:35 a.m.
“We bought the house two years ago and we’ve been remodeling it ever since,” stated Dave Bryant. “We were almost finished with the remodeling. I can see the vinyl blinds burning that I put up two weeks ago,” stated Bryant as he pointed to the upstairs window.
“I have guitars and amplifiers in there. I hope they don’t get damaged.”
Fred Atchley, the Sevier County Fire Marshall was on the initial scene along with members of the Seymour Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD), Officer Tim Long of the Sevier County Sheriff’s Department, and the Sevier County Ambulance Service.
The early morning simmer turned into a full blaze at the residence that same afternoon.
The house caught fire again around 2:30 p.m. and was engulfed before firefighters and rescue workers could extinguish the blaze.
“It looks like the fire rekindled. That sort of thing happens from time to time,” said a retired Knox County fireman at the scene.
Larry Hart was one of the many concerned neighbors watching in awe. “I looked out of my back window around 1:30 p.m. and saw smoke billowing through the roof, so I called 911.
The operator informed me that they had already received several calls about it.”
As the fire grew so did the number of emergency personnel.
Three fire trucks were accompanied by several other emergency vehicles as rounds of .38 caliber ammunition burst throughout one of the home’s bedrooms.
The cause of the fire was undetermined as the shell-shocked owners of the home once again pulled up to see their house surrounded by firefighters and engulfed in flames.
“I can’t understand it, they left and the walls were still so hot,” stated Heather. “They told us to watch it for six to eight hours, but I had not eaten anything so we went to get some food and we came back to this,” Heather Bryant stated, pointing to the house in flames.
The house appears to be a total loss, according to one of the Seymour Volunteer Fire Fighter.
The Bryant’s have insurance but are uncertain as to what they will do about rebuilding. “We don’t anything now, our kids don’t even have their clothes,” Heather stated.
SVFD stayed on the scene to clean up. Sevier County Ambulance was also on hand. Sevier County Sheriff’s Jason Maddison directed traffic.

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