Two Residential Fires Resulted In One Death And One Investigation
By LYDIA BERGLAR
News Editor
Photo courtesy of Dade County Fire Department – Fire departments work to extinguish the Candy Lane fire on Sept. 8.
Two homes burned down last week. The first is under investigation, and the second resulted in a tragic death.
First, around midday on Sept. 8, a fully involved fire at 204 Candy Lane (near New England) resulted in a total loss. No one was inside the home at the time of the fire. A neighbor made the 911 call, and this fire is under investigation.
According to the tax assessor’s website, this property is owned by the life estate of Betty Hall, and the grantee is Cindy Shaw.
Then, around 11 a.m. on Sept. 10, a fire at 99 Byrds Chapel Road in Rising Fawn resulted in the death of 88-year-old Marion D. Lyons. Multiple fire departments responded: New Salem, South Dade, Dade County Station One, and McLemore Fire.
This fire is not under investigation. The fire departments narrowed down the cause to a charcoal grill that sat just outside the front door.
Photo courtesy of Dade County EMA – Aftermath of the Byrds Chapel fire on Sept. 10.
Ansel Smith (Trenton Fire Department assistant chief) reported that a passerby made the 911 call.
Smith explained that two men were inside the house when the fire started. One exited the building, saw the fire, rushed inside to tell Lyons, and immediately exited again with very little time due to the growing fire. Flames engulfed the front door, so this man sustained burns and was transported to the hospital.
Lyons was tragically unable to escape and was deceased by the time the firefighters extracted him.
Alex Case (Dade County EMA director) reported that the small home met fire code. There were windows in the back room that counted as egress.
