By Nicholas Hunt
The Knoxville News-Sentinel
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Eight young adults have the quick thinking of an off-duty Knoxville firefighter and a little luck to thank for saving them from a fire Sunday morning. The fire involved two historic Victorian houses in the 400 block of 11th Street in Fort Sanders next to Fort Kid and the Knoxville Museum of Art.
Knoxville Fire Department spokesman D.J. Corcoran said they believe the fire began at 402 11th St. and that the heat from that fire radiated over to the house at 404, where eight people were sleeping.
“We woke up this morning to flames licking the inside of the wall next to the window,” said Blake Easley, one of the residents of 404 11th St., “and it didn’t make any sense. ... It was so surreal. There was just fire, in my room.”
His first instinct was to start batting the flames with his blanket but by that time it was too late.
At almost the same moment, KFD firefighter Jeff Nichols, who was on his way to work when he spotted the smoke from I-75, burst into house and began waking the sleeping occupants.
“All the sudden this man pops out of nowhere and he is like, ‘Fire!’ ‘Fire!’ ” Easley said. “It’s just this plainclothes guy who turns out to be an off-duty fi refi ghter who saw the smoke from the interstate and drove here and ... kicked in our door and rescued us all.”
Nichols said that when he arrived the residents were not in too much danger, but added that the situation was quickly growing worse.
“Especially upstairs,” he said. "(The fi re) hadn’tcome into the structure yet, but it was on the outside. ... Smoke will rise, so the ones upstairs were in more danger than the ones downstairs.”
Easley, wrapped only in a sheet, fled the house.
“I ... kind of stood there and watched my dreams burn,” he said.
Nichols notified dispatch around 6:30 a.m. The fires were under control by 7:30 a.m., and firefighters wrapped up by 10:30 a.m., according to Corcoran.
“We are just really fortunate that Jeff was right there at the right time and knew what to do,” Corcoran said. “It could have been a totally different outcome because those kids could have suffered smoke inhalation. There could have been a fatality.
KFD arson investigators later determined the fi re was electrical in nature, Corcoran said Sunday evening. It began between the first and second floors of the unoccupied house at 402 11th St. that was being remodeled and spread to the occupied home next door.
The houses are part of a small historic district and were built in the 1880s, said Kim Trent, the executive director of Knox Heritage. They were saved from destruction to become part of the 1982 World’s Fair.
“They are wonderful examples of architecture from that time period,” she said. “Not only are they significant because of their age, but also because of the role they played in the World’s Fair.”
The city, which previously owned the houses, sold them to developers five years ago, she said.
From the outside they do not look like total losses, but the owners will have to come in to evaluate the damage before they know how much it will cost to restore them, she said.
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