Faith Harper
Jacksonville Daily Progress
TROUP —
A Thursday morning electrical fire caused heavy damage to a home on the 18000 block of Sunshine Lane in Troup.
e Wasson, assistant fire marshall for Smith County, said Arp, Troup and Chapel Hill departments were dispatched to the blaze shortly before 8 a.m.
Homeowner Robert Jamison and his daughter were home at the time of the fire but were able to get out safely, but one of their pet cats was lost in the blaze.
Wasson said Jamison reported he was awake and preparing to pick his wife up from Dallas. She said he noticed heavy smoke in his closet as he was getting dressed for the day. Seeing the smoke, he grabbed a water hose and began working to salvage his home.
Jamison's neighbor Suzette Davis was one of many who rushed to help keep the fire under control as they waited for emergency responders to arrive.
“I saw smoke coming out of the top of the house and I was running around with a water hose trying to help,” she said.
The fire appears to have started in the attic above the master bedroom closet, Wasson said. Half of the home was damaged, including the master bedroom, bathroom and kitchen.
Neighbors said they were impressed with the response time of the departments.
Penny Wilson, freighter EMT for the Arp Volunteer Fire Department, said the county practices what they call “box alarms” where three departments are instantly dispatched to a single house fire.
“Since we started, we have saved so many of these houses,” Wilson said. “There was a lot of damage to the house but we kept it to one end of the house. It was in the attic, but we still knocked it down pretty fast.”
And as the flames were controlled, firefighters worked to remove items from the home to try to minimize smoke damage, including clothing and the family's dining room table.
“The biggest lost isn't your home, it's the stuff in your home,” Watson said. “So we try to do everything we can to help out.”
Wasson said it would be up to the insurance company whether the home was a total loss.
“It was such heavy fire and smoke damage that I would think they would total, it especially with the attic gone,” Wasson said. “I would think they will but that will be totally up to the insurance company.”
