Putnam County first responders called to 3 structure fires, 2 crashes within 25 hours
PUTNAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Over a span of 25 hours, Putnam County crews found themselves responding to at least five fires involving homes or crashed vehicles across the county.
According to the Putnam County Fire Department (PCFD), at approximately 7:40 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 29, units were dispatched to a Lakewood Court home in the East Lake Estates subdivision for a report of a fire in the bathroom.
When personnel arrived at the scene, they reportedly learned the homeowner had extinguished the fire, but they still needed to clear the home of residual smoke and check for more flames, but no fire hazards remained.
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Then, during the early morning hours on Friday, March 1, officials said crews were sent to Vivian Drive after a neighbor reported a house fire. First responders got to the scene and discovered the home was heavily involved with flames, so they had to aggressively attack the blaze, allowing them to gain control within the hour and keep it from spreading to nearby structures.
PCFD said Putnam County EMS needed to examine one firefighter on scene. While the reason for this examination was not shared by officials, the firefighter was not brought to the hospital and all units cleared out around 5 a.m.
However, shortly after personnel returned to their stations, the department said they were dispatched to another report of a residential fire on Austin Bottom Road.
Upon arrival, crews said they found light smoke showing from a single-story structure, but further investigation led to the discovery of a room and its contents on fire. First responders quickly attacked the blaze, minimized the damage within the home, and left the scene after about an hour.
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After spending Thursday evening and Friday morning dealing with structure fires — the causes of which remain unknown as of 7 a.m. on Saturday, March 2 — PCFD personnel said they spent Friday afternoon and night handling crashes on Interstate 40 East that impacted travel for extended periods of time.
At approximately 3:15 p.m., officials said PCFD and other county agencies were called to a multi-vehicle crash with one vehicle on fire at mile marker 296 on I-40 East. Firefighters extinguished the blaze while other first responders handled patient care at the scene of the wreck, which affected eastbound travel for a couple of hours.
Then, shortly before 8:45 p.m., PCFD said its personnel joined other county agencies in responding to mile marker 295 on I-40 East for another multi-vehicle crash with one vehicle on fire. Once again, crews put out the fire, other agencies provided patient care, and eastbound traffic was impacted for a few hours while the scene was being cleaned up.
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There is no word on the number or conditions of the motorists involved in either wreck. Since Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) is reportedly investigating both incidents, News 2 reached out to THP for more information, but we have yet to hear back.
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