Corbin teen dies in Monday morning double-wide fire

A Corbin area teen died Monday morning in a structure fire on Cedar Bluff Lane in Knox County.

Kentucky State Police said a 16-year-old male juvenile was pronounced dead at the scene of the double-wide trailer fire.

Police have not released his name.

Courtesy of West Knox Fire Department
West Knox and Bailey Switch firefighters were called to battle a double-wide fire Monday morning that resulted in the death of a Corbin teen

West Knox and Bailey Switch firefighters were paged to the scene off of Industrial Blvd. at 3:11 a.m.

“When we were paged, the dispatcher told us someone was trapped inside,” said West Knox Fire Chief Darryl Baker.

When firefighters arrived, Baker said the trailer was fully involved.

“The roof was already gone and it was on fire from end to end,” Baker said.

Despite the flames, Baker said firefighters attempted to make entry as the teen was reportedly just inside the door leading inside from the carport.

“We were so caught up with trying to get inside that one of the firefighters destroyed his gear in the process. It was that hot,” Baker said.

The teen lived at the residence with his aunt and her boyfriend.

Both of them were able to get out. They were both taken by ambulance to Baptist Health Corbin.

Trooper Shane Jacobs, public affairs officer at Post 10 in Harlan, said the aunt was later transported to the University of Kentucky Medical Center for what he described as non-life-threatening injuries.

Firefighters were on scene until approximately 8:30 a.m.

Kentucky State Police arson investigators are investigating, though officials emphasized that is standard procedure in cases involving fatal fires.

Baker said this is the first fire fatal fire for West Knox firefighters since 2013 when a family of seven, including a pregnant woman, was killed.

Baker said while his firefighters have been to multiple fatal crashes in that time, a fatality at a structure fire is different.

“Usually with a car wreck there is not a thing you can do about it,” Baker said. “At a structure fire, you feel like you can do something about it. You want to be Superman but you fail.”