CROSSVILLE —
The victim of an accidental fire that claimed the life of the sole occupant of the home that burned Saturday morning has been identified as Hardy 'Wayne' Hutchinson, 67, of 72 Darrell Ave.
Crossville Police, Fire Department and the Tennessee Arson and Bomb Squad responded to the scene of the early morning fire to determine the cause of the blaze and to identify the body that was found in a rear bedroom where the fire started.
"We have just received a call from the state medical examiner's office and they have confirmed the identity of the victim," said Incident Commander Chris South. "The state lab has also confirmed and ruled the cause of the fire was smoking in bed, with the bed being the origin of the fire."
The autopsy showed that Hutchinson died from inhalation of smoke and super heated gases, South added.
One firefighter — David Smith — was taken by ambulance to Cumberland Medical Center for treatment of chest pains believed related to smoke inhalation. He was hospitalized at CMC over the weekend and was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville Monday morning for tests.
"He is in very, very stable condition," South said. "They are just doing some additional tests to make sure everything is OK."
The fatal fire was just one of four that firefighters from Crossville, Cumberland County and Fairfield Glade responded to as a rare January thunderstorm raced across the Cumberland Plateau during the dark, early morning hours. At least two of the fires were caused by lightning strikes.
At 11:42 p.m. Friday Cumberland County firefighters responded to a fire on Red Fox Dr. in Windridge Estates off Plateau Rd. and found a residence "on the ground" when first units arrived. Cause of that fire is unknown.
At 1:24 a.m. Saturday, county firefighters were dispatched to Florida Ave. in Batemon subdivision off Lantana Rd. and found a residence with four different fires that were quickly extinguished. An occupant of that residence was taken into custody but charges and a report were not available at press time.
At 4:35 a.m. county firefighters were dispatched to a building on fire in the 4500 block of Creston Rd. and found that lightning had struck the building. Fire damage was minimal.
About that same time lightning struck the Joe and Melody Konowitz residence on Northridge Circle off Catoosa Blvd. in Fairfield Glade. Lightning damaged water, gas and electrical lines to the residence, but no one was injured in the incident.
Area News
Related Photos
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firefighters are viewed in clean-up mode on Darrell Ave. which was the scene of a fatal fire early Saturday morning. Michael R. Moser
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This was the scene that greeted firefighters as they responded to the fire call. Flames are seen coming from a rear bedroom where the victim’s body was later discovered. Michael R. Moser
One killed in house fire
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