Rockford home burns: Residents had vacated house 12 days ago
By Iva Butler| (ivab@thedailytimes.com)
Most of the roof was on fire when Blount County Fire Department arrived at a house in the 3000 block of Calvert Street, Rockford, early Monday morning.
The call came in summoning fireman at 2:12 a.m.
The house is owned by Mason Spencer of Hillvale Road, Louisville. His ex-wife had been living there and had vacated the structure, except for children’s toys and odds and ends, 12 days ago.
No one was at home at the time of the fire. Items apparently left to move indicate there are children in the family that formerly lived there.
A pink plastic swing lay in the middle of a side yard and a bicycle leaned against the charred remains of the house in the background.
The front porch contains a bright orange and red slide and a turquoise, yellow and purple table for small children.
The front yard holds a bright blue wading pool and there is a basketball goal beside the house.
Capt. Jerry Phillips, the second firefighter on the scene, said he could see the flames on Russell Road as he responded to the call. It was an approximately 1,600-square-foot wooden frame structure, he said.
Firemen were on the scene putting out the hot spots until 6:30 a.m. Monday.
They sent eight trucks and 16 firefighters to the scene.
Blount County Sheriff’s Office is, according to protocol, investigating the cause of the fire.
