Polk County officials are still waiting for the state crime lab to determine the positive identification of a woman who died in a January house fire in Turtletown, according to Copper Basin Fire Chief Marty Senterfitt.
Senterfitt said firefighters were called to the scene just off Highway 68 across from the Dollar General store at 3:06 a.m. Thursday, January 23, to the report of flames coming through the roof of a two-story home.
The first firefighters to arrive found flames fully consuming the wood frame structure.
Senterfitt said a man who was at home at the time had escaped, but a woman had not. The man believed the fire was started by an electric space heater.
The fire was reported by a passerby. The cause is being investigated by the state fire marshal’s office.
Two firefighters received minor injuries when a wall fell on them.
Senterfitt said firefighters had to battle not only the fire but the extremely cold temperatures that hovered around 15 degrees that morning. Water had to be kept circulating in the fire trucks’ pumps, and hoses would freeze to the ground if left in the same location too long.
Senterfitt urged everyone that anytime a fire starts to call 911 immediately. Time means everything when fighting a fire, he said.