A married couple died in a fire that began with an explosion in their mobile home in Houston County, TN. Fire crews were called to the house, at 150 Stephenson Lane, at 10:44 p.m. on Monday.
A witness told NewsChannel that Dorothy “Dot” Stephenson, 73, was trapped inside what remained of the house after the initial explosion, calling for help. Her husband Doris, 78, was outside of the home at the time of the blast and went inside to try and save her. Neither of them survived. Firefighters found them near the kitchen, Doris with his arms wrapped around Dot.
Their daughter, Tamara Stephenson, told the LeafChronicle that her mother was bedridden and that she and her brother brought her parents meals twice a day. Tamara said she took dinner to them at 10:30 p.m. and heard an explosion shortly after she returned to her home a few minutes away. who lives a short distance away from her parents’ mobile home, said she took their supper around 10:30 p.m. and a couple minutes after returning home, she heard an explosion.
“We ran out the door and looked out and the walls were already off. It was gone. The trailer, it was gone,” Tamara told the LeafChronicle. “I could hear my momma. I could hear her trying to call for help. She kept saying help me, but I never did hear my daddy.”
The source of the explosion is unclear. Dorothy was on oxygen and new bottles had been delivered that day. Firefighters from the Houston County Fire Department, the City of Tennessee Ridge Fire Department and the Erin Fire Department also responded to the scene. They had the fire out by 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Sources:
http://www.newschannel5.com/news/local-news/explosion-reported-near-kentucky-lake-in-houston-county
http://www.theleafchronicle.com/story/news/crime/2016/11/15/explosion-houston-county-mobile-home-kills-two-people/93876282/