House fire in Athens, Tenn., injures mother, son and firefighter

House fire tile black
House fire tile black

An 87-year-old mother and her mid-50s son, along with a firefighter, sustained injuries in a fire Wednesday night in Athens, Tenn.

The call came in around 8:20 p.m. Wednesday and firefighters began battling the blaze at the front of the house on East Madison Avenue, Athens Fire Chief Jim Dyer said this morning.

None of the victims, including the firefighter, are being named for now, Dyer said. The fire scene is in the downtown area a couple of blocks from Mayfield Dairy Farm operations.

As one group of firefighters worked at the front of the house where it was "heavily involved in fire, another crew went around back to fight the fire from that way and we had a firefighter injured."

That firefighter was injured when a ceiling fell on them, but injuries were not serious, the chief said.

The cause of the fire is "undetermined and still under investigation" but there was "nothing suspicious" about the fire, he said.

"We just don't know if it's a cigarette or a heating pad," he said.

Dyer said this morning that he hadn't heard from the burn unit at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

For today, fire officials, including the state fire marshal's office, will continue to work on a determination on the cause, he said.

Dyer said the house had no working smoke detectors installed. He noted that the victims might have had more warning if there had been smoke detectors in the house.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton or at www.facebook.com/benbenton1.

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