At approximately 4:35 p.m. on Sunday, all Maryville fire trucks were called to 205 S. Mulberry for a structure fire starting at the back of the home of Billy Hager and Cathi Peter.
Time was critical in controlling this fire. One member of the family was not accounted for in the house and Hager has approximately 20 gallons of racing fuel for his 1962 Nova in the detached garage located very close to where the flames were soaring.
“We were watching the New England versus Tennessee game in the living room when we heard a noise upstairs — like a popping sound,” Hager said. Realizing the house was on fire, they were unsure if Peter’s son Matthew, 20, was in his upstairs bedroom.
“We tried to go upstairs but couldn’t get in because of the fire,” Peter said. By this time, Peter and Hager felt it was time to exit the house. Luckily, only minutes later, her son called on her cell phone saying he was not at home. He joined his mother along with friends and neighbors to watch firefighters carry water hoses into their home and extension position ladders were placed on the side of the home. The Maryville Public Safety pumper/ladder truck also arrived.
The older home, built in the early 1900s according to the homeowners, was fully engulfed in smoke and the home’s roof vents were puffing out white smoke like fountains. The flames were shooting out the back of the house through the roof and back window. It could be easily seen from Jenkins Street.
Only moments earlier, before the fire trucks arrived, neighbor Jonathan Aley, 134 S. Filmore St., had called 911 when he started to see the flames jetting out of the roof of his neighbor’s home.
After the fire trucks arrived, Maryville Public Safety police officers blocked off the intersection of Jenkins and Mulberry to local traffic. But quickly small pockets of people surrounded the home from a safe distance to watch the firefighters fight the blaze.
As firefighters synchronized their approach through the house and on the roof, respiratory equipment was placed on the backs of many firefight ers and masks were put in place. After short trips into the home and outside on the roof, the firefighters would routinely exit the home and gathered on the curb in front of the home. Removing their masks, soot blackened their faces, hair and jackets. They cleared their throats with bottled water.
As of press time, the Maryville Public Safety firefighters were still extinguishing the fire, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
“We don’t allow smoking in our house,” Peter said.
Hager said he has lived in his South Mulberry home for more than 10 years.
