Two Ducktown residents lost their lives early Tuesday morning, January 23, when their Douglas Street home was destroyed by fire.
The victims have not been officially identified by Tennessee investigators.
Copper Basin Fire Chief Marty Senterfitt said firefighters were dispatched to the Douglas Street home at 6:59 a.m. and found the all wood, frame structure almost completely involved in flames.
Senterfitt said a passerby on Highway 68 who was on his way to work had spotted the fire and called it into the 911 dispatch center as fully involved.
He said the first firefighters on the scene laid three lines and began battling the blaze. The bodies were found after the fire was out.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) was called in to investigate and the bodies of the victims sent for autopsies in Knoxville.
Senterfitt said the TBI will officially release the names of the victims after the autopsies and DNA identifications are complete.
Senterfill said units from the Copper Basin, Wolf Creek and Hiwassee Dam fire departments, as well as a large number of firefighters responded. “A lot of people (were) on the scene very quickly,” he said.
He praised infrastructure improvements recently made in the area, pointing to new fire hydrants that have recently been installed. The firefighters had an instant supply of unlimited water.
“Without a water supply, you can lose multiple houses quickly,” Senterfitt said. The water supply in Ducktown helped firefighters avoid a larger tragedy.
The Tuesday morning fire was the second house fire in as many days battled by the Basin volunteers.
Senterfitt said firefighters saved a house on Highway 68 north of Ducktown in the area of the Dollar General store. He said fire had gotten into the attic and the wall around a chimney, and firefighters pulled the chimney away from the house and were able to save the structure. That fire occurred Sunday, January 21. There were no injuries in the blaze.