Fire damages home on Boat Gunnel Road in Townsend; firefighters injured
From Staff Reports
Two firefighters were injured as they battled a structure fire at a farmhouse in the 200 block of Boat Gunnel Road in Townsend this morning.
Firefighters were dispatched to the fire at about 7:20 a.m. Assisted with an engine and tankers from the Blount County Fire Department, they arrived on the scene at 9 a.m. to find the farmhouse fully engulfed in flames.
The fire was extinguished and scene was cleared at about 11:45 a.m.
According to Townsend Fire Chief Don Stallions, as the firefighters were conducting an internal attack, there was a small explosion in the house, the cause of which was unknown.
“They became trapped for a small amount of time,” Stallions said. “A back-up crew came and got them out.”
The firefighters were transported to Blount Memorial Hospital, where one was treated and released, and the other was being kept overnight for observation for chest pain.
There were no people in the structure, and the owners were out of town, Stallions said. The house was still standing, but was a total loss.
Stallions said since it was a rural area, no other homes in the vicinity were affected.
Blount County Fire Chief Doug McClanahan said the situation could have been worse.
“We all worked together, and that’s the big thing,” he said.
