Local firefighters battle a trio of Whitley blazes Thursday

Oak Grove firefighters battled a blaze early Thursday at a residence off Clearview Drive in the Bee Creek Communuty. Authorities think it may have been the work of an arsonist.

Oak Grove and Woodbine volunteer firefighters stayed busy much of the day Thursday battling several blazes including an arson suspected blaze early in the morning and an accidental blaze Thursday evening.

Arson is suspected in a Thursday morning fire that destroyed a home off Clearview Drive in the Bee Creek community.
Whitley County Sheriff’s Detective Chuck Davis said there were at least two separate points of origin for the fire, one in the front bathroom and the other in the master bedroom.

According to the boyfriend of the homeowner, Faye Buchanan, Davis said that all doors were supposed to be locked.

When firefighters first entered the home in an attempt to extinguish the blaze, Davis said that they reported finding only the door between the kitchen and garage closed.

The backdoor was shut, but unlocked and the front door was halfway open and the storm door propped open with a bag, Davis said.

He said that it’s unclear whether anything was taken because the homeowner, Faye Buchanan, is in Daytona Beach on vacation.

Witnesses didn’t report seeing anything out of the ordinary in the neighborhood.

Oak Gove Volunteer Fire Department Battalion Chief Donnie Hart said that despite the efforts of three volunteer fire departments, the doublewide mobile home with an attached garage was a complete loss.

"It has heat and smoke damage throughout and part of the roof is missing," he said.

The fire appeared to have been burning for quite some time when it was reported to 911 about 7:40 a.m.

Her neighbor Jeremy Reece first noticed the fire as his father was preparing to take him to school.

"He was like, ‘That is smoke. That’s not fog.’ I got to looking closer and was like, ‘That’s smoke,’" said his father, Tim Reece.
"I didn’t know she was on vacation. I didn’t know whether she was gone or at work or not," Tim Reece said. "I was over there beating on the outside walls to see if I could get her attention because she is real hard of hearing."

After his wife, Karen, got a hold of Buchanan’s sister, Virginia King, and learned that she was gone on vacation, Tim Reece said that he just backed away from the home.

King said that her sister was fairly distraught when she told her about the blaze Thursday morning, and asked whether she could still live in it.

Buchanan had lived at the home for about six years and is manager of the Arby’s in south Corbin.

"Her boyfriend was telling me that she had just gotten through installing new oak flooring throughout the house," Reece said.
About 30 firefighters from Oak Grove, Woodbine and Bald Rock volunteer fire departments in addition to six fire department vehicles responded to the scene.

No one was injured in the blaze.

Davis is still investigating the case and was assisted by Woodbine Volunteer Fire Department Chief Rick Fore, who is also the sheriff department’s arson investigator.

About 8:30 p.m., Oak Grove and Woodbine responded to a structure fire at 222 Hightop Road.

Hart said that the owners of the two-story wood-frame home had left a candle burning in their bedroom before heading down to Nibroc, which was the apparent cause of the blaze.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the bedroom and the rest of the structure suffered smoke damage.

Hart said that if the nearly one dozen firefighters hadn’t arrived when they did with four fire trucks, then the blaze could have easily spread to the rest of the home.

Woodbine and Oak Grove volunteer firefighters also battled a blaze on Eatontown Road Thursday morning in the Woodbine community.