Fire Fatalities in Tennessee Valley

Three people died in two house fires this weekend in the Tennessee Valley. Investigators say house fires are more common in the colder weather months, but in the last 30 days, we have seen an usual number of fire fatalities in our area.

"We're concentrating on what was in that area that could have caused the fire." Assistant Fire Chief Bo Kaylor says investigators are still trying to hone in on what caused Sunday morning's fatal fire in Dayton, Tennessee. They believe an overloaded electrical outlet may have sparked it. Five adults and three children were home. Seven of them made it out, but 21 year old Hector Rojas Hernandez did not. Kaylor says family members tried to help.

"He tried to make entry back into the house, but the smoke was so thick, he couldn't get back in."

A similar situation unfolded Saturday morning in Bradley County. Family and neighbors tried to rescue Ronald David Wilson and his wife Joyce, but Donna Hawkins says the flames were too intense.

"The heat, the flames, the windows popping out. Our neighbor to the left of them tried to open the door, but he couldn't through the smoke."

Investigators have since determined the family's smoke detectors were not working properly. Captain Steve Lawson with the Bradley County Sheriff's office says, "We're working now to figure out the origin of the fire and the cause of the fire."

The day after Thanksgiving, two fires claimed the lives of three people. An electrical fire in Meigs County killed 87 year old Beulah Skeen. And in Whitfield County, a fire killed two people, including a 12 year old boy. Investigators say they believe that fire was started by a space heater too close to furniture.

Neighobr Mario Trejo says, "This is a wake-up call for all us of. Just be thankful you have your family and you're together."

Assistant Chief Kaylor in Dayton says the recent fires should be a wake-up call for us all: make sure your home has a smoke detector. "You can't have enough of them. But the main thing about smoke detectors is make sure they're working."

There were two more fires earlier in November, making eight fire-related fatalities in the last 30 days in the greater Tennessee Valley area.