svfd fights two house fires in one day

Seymour Herald/Library Photo

By Joe Karl
jkarl@theheraldnewspapers.com

published: November 29 2007 08:30 AM updated:: December 03 2007 05:16 AM

The first fire the Seymour Volunteer Fire Department started off with was at 7:26 AM, Wednesday at a residential structure on Cusick Hollow Rd.

Firefighters arrived 7:39 AM and found a single story 1200 square foot home with heavy fire showing from the rear of the home.

The firefighters were told that the home is a single wide trailer with a house structure built around it.

This complicated matters for firefighters as the construction of the home left large void areas between the mobile home and the exterior house structure that could possibly hide tremendous amounts of heat and fire.

Firefighters entered the home to find high heat conditions and heavy black smoke with no visibility.

One of the firefighters had told the Herald, “This was the hottest fire I had ever been in all the years I’ve been a firefighter.”

The fire was declared under control 7:54 AM.

Engines 15, Engine 5, Engine 7, Support 1, Support 2, Support 17, Sevier Co. Volunteer Fire Department Tanker 25, and Sevier Co. VFD Truck 12 responded.

Ten Seymour Firefighters were aided by eight Sevier Co. VFD members. The Sevier County Sheriff and Ambulance were also there.

No injuries were reported, the property owner was Donnie Cusick.

The second fire came in the afternoon at 601 Maryville Hwy, just across the street from the Seymour Business Park and the offices of the Seymour Herald.

The occupants arrived at the home and as they opened the downstairs door, they were met with a large amount of smoke.

The fire was located in the downstairs portion of the home and was quickly extinguished by the quick response and actions of the SVFD.

Even the SVFD chairman board, Ted Esch, had responded to the fire and was working the equipment.

The fire is believed to be accidental in nature and appears to be electrical. Engine 5, Engine 12, Engine 15, Support 1, Support 2, and 14 Firefighters responded

The occupants name is Delia Long. The SVFD was dispatched at 3:26 P.M. arrived at 3:29 P.M. and the fire was out at 3:36 P.M.

There were no reported injuries.

Ryan Cleaveland, a Sevier County Sheriff’s Deputy and Sevier Co. Ambulance also were present at the scene.

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User Comments

#1 Proud of SMS commented, on November 29, 2007 at 11:11 a.m.:

Great job BETA members!!! They were wonderful on the trip. SMS is doing a great job in basketball, also. The SMS Football team also had a great banquet a couple weeks ago. SMS is doing great in everyhting they do!!!!!

#2 Sorry commented, on November 29, 2007 at 11:47 a.m.:

I thought I clicked on the other article. This comment was meant for the SMS Beta trip.

#3 Animal Lover commented, on November 30, 2007 at 6:36 p.m.:

What's the story on the dog in the picture. The little by looks sad, I sure hop the dogs OK.

#4 Censorship commented, on December 1, 2007 at 8:01 a.m.:

The editor may remove some post after he reads them, but at least they are there for a short time. The Mountain Press reviews all posts before posting to their site.

Many Gatlinburg residents don't like the nickname, "Burg," given to the town by the MT Press, and they refuse to allow any complaints about their use.

#5 Postal Worker commented, on December 5, 2007 at 10:46 p.m.:

In the hardcopy of this article the author used the word "distinquished" when he meant to say "extinquished."

#6 To Postal Worker commented, on December 6, 2007 at 11:30 a.m.:

You're right. I also enjoyed the story about the "farm tracker" accident. It's still up on topix.com.