Monday, March 8, 2010
Cigarette Butt Is Suspect In Friday Fire
A cigarette butt is believed to be the culprit that sparked a fire that resulted in damages to a Loretto home Friday.
According to reports filed through the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, emergency personnel were dispatched to a home fire at 746 North Military Street, Loretto, around 5:30 p.m.
Resident Cassie Dawn Gray told deputies she had arrived home around 5:00 p.m., placing her cigarette butt into a bucket near the northeast side of the home. Reports show the bucket was sitting beside a cooler and a container of gasoline.
Shortly afterwards, resident Eddie Joe Gray reported, he heard a neighbor beating upon his door, yelling to them that their house was on fire. Once they had exited the home, Eddie Gray reports he initiated efforts to extinguish the blaze.
Fire officials indicate it appears the cigarette butt caused the bucket to catch fire, which in turn caused the cooler to catch fire. The blaze then caught the siding of the home afire. The gas can, reports show, was not harmed in the blaze. Gray indicated that the items had been sitting in the location for around three years.
Loss for owner Merlyn David Jones is estimated at $2,020.
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