Three Departments Battle House Fire In Helenwood

Helenwood, TN (2011-06-20) Fire completely gutted a single-story residential structure in Helenwood on Monday.

A three-alarm residential fire completely gutted a single-story home in Helenwood Monday afternoon. The homeowner, identified as Pauline Acres, the widow of former Criminal Investigator Norman Acres, reportedly infrequently stayed in the home and was not there at the time of the fire.

At approximately 1:30 p.m. Monday afternoon, Deputy Toby Jeffers of the Scott County Sheriff’s Department reportedly discovered the blaze. Although the home is located at 13111 Scott Highway (near St. Jude’s Catholic Church), the fire reportedly went undetected by passers-by until Jeffers’ noticed the thick smoke. “Flames had just breeched the (metal) roof of the structure (upon our arrival),” commented Wayne Reed, Chief of the Mid-County Fire Department, which responded in just minutes of the call

Firefighters from the Mid-County Fire Department, along with the Huntsville and Oneida Fire Department, battled the blaze. After suppressing the flames bellowing through the roof, firefighters reportedly made multiple entries into the dwelling to fight the fire from inside. Firefighters’ efforts were reportedly hampered by a false ceiling in the structure.

The intense blaze, commented Reed, melted the vinyl siding on a nearby house. The neighbors were home at the time of the fire, but reportedly were unaware of the fire until being rousted from their home by Deputy Jeffers.

Firefighters spent more than four hours on the scene. A section of the southbound lane of Scott Highway was also closed while firefighters battled the blaze.