The Knoxville News-Sentinel
MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — Investigators are checking what caused a house fire in which a 56-year-old man suffered burns over 70 percent of his body.
Donnie Stepp was in critical condition Wednesday after being carried unconscious from the rented home on Spout Springs Road by emergency responders.
Stepp was admitted to the Vanderbilt Medical Center Burn Unit, where he was flown by a medical helicopter after first being treated at the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
“He had extensive burns,” said Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Wayne Mize.
Authorities were alerted at 12:17 a.m. Wednesday of the fire in the home in the north part of the county.
“He called 911 himself and said his residence was on fire and he couldn’t get out,” Mize said, adding he was unsure why Stepp couldn’t get out of the single-story home.
Hamblen County Sheriff’s Deputy David Cribley was the first on the scene. Neighbors told Cribley that Stepp, who lived alone, was still in the home.
“When he got there, he kicked the front door in and crawled in and couldn’t fi nd anyone,” Mize said. Cribley also is a fi refighter with the West Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department.
Cribley repeated the process on the back door, this time wrapping a wet towel around his head to protect him from the heat as he crawled on the floor to avoid the smoke and toxic fumes filling the house. Cribley couldn’t fi nd Stepp and crawled out a second time.
When the first truck from the North Hamblen County Volunteer Fire Department arrived, Cribley donned an air pack and went back into the burning house. Cribley was joined by North Hamblen firefighter Ronnie Hayes, Mize said.
Cribley and Hayes found Stepp “breathing but unresponsive” in a bedroom, Mize said.
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