History Behind Historic House That Burned
We are learning more about the historic house that caught fire Monday afternoon in Ringgold. As investigators dig deeper into the cause we dig deeper in the history books on the story behind the home Catoosa County firefighters saved.
The house was built almost 140-years ago on Guyler Street by a couple of cousins who brought their families down from New York. It's changed ownership several times through the years and is in the midst of being renovated.
While roof workers took their lunch break Monday the attic and roof went up in flames. A day later we found the Trundle family carrying away some of the belongings that were saved. They declined to talk about their loss.
But when we talked with Catoosa County Fire Rescue Captain Steve Quinn about fighting the fire he said "it had it's challenges because it is such a large home."
Almost 10,000 square feet of home posed several challenges for firefighters - very old, dry wood, a brisk wind and carrying equipment up two flights of stairs.
The fire appears to have started in either the attic level or roof. Neighbor Evelyn Helms said she thinks the men putting on a new roof are to blame because she said they were constantly smoking cigarettes.
To help us learn more about the history of the house we found a book titled "Catoosa County, Georgia Heritage 1853-1998" that had plenty of information from several sources through the years. According to what's written the house was built in 1872 by Lummis and Duane Knapp, two cousins who brought their families from New York.
Records show the house was sold to Morris Powell in 1890. Then in 1907 the house sold to David A. Trundle who transferred it to his wife Lillie in 1923. In 1969 it was transferred to David Coulter Trundle and his wife Betty. We were told Betty Trundle now lives in a nursing home.
Her family has been overseeing the renovations now underway.
It appears renovations will continue, including rebuilding the attic level and roof of the house.
"Yes, the firefighters that were working yesterday did a tremendous job," Capt. Quinn said. "We had a lot of fire on the third floor, they were able to get in and make an aggressive attack and save a lot of the property."
According to what's written the house was originally built as a duplex to house the two Knapp families. It has large halls running on the first and second floors. A unique feature of the top floor is the placement of five port hole windows along with symmetrical arched windows below.
The fire destroyed the top, or attic level while the first and second floors suffered water damage.
"It makes all the training and hard work we put in the rest of the year pay off, makes it worthwhile," Capt. Quinn said.
The Georgia State Fire Marshal's office is investigating the cause and they are taking a close look at the work being done to renovate the 137-year-old Trundle House.
