CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – A Cunningham family of eight lost their home and all belongings inside on Saturday, Dec. 12, due to a fire that broke out inside the home on Bryant Hollow Road.
According to Randy Steeley, Deputy Fire Chief and Fire Investigator with the Montgomery County Volunteer Fire Service, the emergency call about the fire came in around 3:50 p.m. on Saturday.
Two adults and six children lived at the home. The family was not home at the time, and no firefighters were injured in the process of putting out the flames, Steeley said.
“When units arrived on scene, about 50 percent of the house was on fire,” Steeley told Clarksville Now.
When Steeley arrived on scene 30 minutes after the initial call, he said that the fire was nearly contained except for the house’s attic area. It was eventually put out, allowing firefighters to begin assessing the damage.
“The house is a complete loss due to the fire and heat and smoke damage,” Steeley said.
Two of the family’s cars were also damaged in the fire – one was completely burned up and the other was burned only on the back half, but Steeley believes that car will be a total loss too.
Dave Scribani, who lives next door to the house that caught on fire, wrote on the GoFundMe page he started up to help the family that he was the one who witnessed the fire, and placed the emergency call.
“I was outside working on our farm when I heard a loud explosion,” Scribani wrote on the page. “When I looked beyond my property I noticed a black ball of fire and smoke coming from my neighbors house. I grabbed my wife and we quickly rushed to their house. Right before our eyes we witnessed our incredible friends home burning down.”
“Thankfully, nobody was home. I made the heart wrenching phone call to Mike and his wife to inform them that their home was on fire,” Scribani continued.
One of the only items recovered from the home was a Bible. “And it was found where the fire started,” Scribani told Clarksville Now.
Though the investigation to determine the cause of the fire is still ongoing, Steeley’s preliminary assessment is that the fire started due to an electrical malfunction.
“(The electrical system) had been updated. It was an older home, but it had been updated from fuses to actual breakers, but we noticed it looked like just over time, that it had shorted out,” Steeley said.