Williamsburg woman killed in fatal house fire early Friday morning

An early morning house fire Friday claimed the life of a Williamsburg woman.
Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley pronounced Pam Chinn, 52, dead about 3 a.m. The preliminary cause of death was smoke inhalation due to an accidental fire.
No autopsy was ordered.
Williamsburg Fire Chief James Privett said that 911 alerted his department shortly after 2 a.m. about a structure fire on Old Corbin Pike at the home of Pam and Ronnie Chinn.
It took the first of 15 firefighters about three and one-half minutes to arrive at the scene.
"When we got here the house was pretty much fully engulfed in flames," Privett said. "The homeowners were still there. The husband came out and advised his wife was still in the house.
"The heat and smoke were intense. We tried to get to her as quick as possible, but it was too late."
Ronnie Chinn was examined at the scene by Whitley County EMS, but didn’t have to be transported to the hospital.
The couple was apparently sleeping when the fire started.
"Pam awoke. Ronnie doesn’t hear very well. She went and woke him up. He was in the other bedroom," said Pam’s brother-in-law, Conley Manning. "She told him to get out because the house was on fire. So he started out and thought she was behind him.
"He got to the living room but he fell to his knees due to the smoke. He finally got the front door opened, but when he looked she wasn’t with him so he went back in but the smoke and heat were too intense."
Manning said that Pam had apparently turned to go back into her bedroom.
"I’m assuming, knowing her, that she went to get a robe. I can almost guarantee it. She was a very modest person. They found her in the bathroom."
J.L. Hamblin, who was spending the night at his mother’s home two doors down, was the first person to call 911 to report the blaze. His sister, who heard the popping and cracking of the fire, woke him up.
Hamblin said his sister initially didn’t know what the noise was and thought someone was trying to break into another neighbor’s home.
"We looked out the back and saw the house was on fire. I immediately called 911," Hamblin said.
At the time, the back portion of the home near the garage area was completely engulfed in flames. Fire was already shooting out parts of the roof near the garage area, he added.
Hamblin, who works for Delta Natural Gas, said he knew the home had gas service so he immediately ran down to the house to turn off the gas.
By then Williamsburg police had arrived followed a short time later by firefighters and Whitley County EMS.
Privett complimented Williamsburg Police Sgt. Mike Taylor and Officer Elijah Hunter, who arrived at the scene about the same time as the first fire truck, and quickly helped firefighters try to extinguish the blaze.
"They did a good job. I want to commend them for it," Privett added.

Cause undetermined
Privett said that firefighters are still trying to determine what caused the fire, which apparently started in the garage area and burned back towards the kitchen.
The state fire marshal’s office sent two investigators to the scene to help determine what caused the fire, but Privett said that there was nothing suspicious about the blaze and no foul play is suspected.
Privett said that the house appeared to have been burning for quite some time before anyone noticed the fire.
At least one firefighter was injured fighting the blaze. Firefighter Gary Thomas overexerted himself and had to be transported to Baptist Health Corbin where he was treated and released.
Another firefighter was hit by a partially collapsing roof, but didn’t have to go to the hospital.
Firefighters were on the scene for several hours. Williamsburg responded with two fire trucks and Emlyn Volunteer Fire Department brought its tanker truck to provide additional water.
"We were using water faster than we could pump it in," Privett added.

Long time residents
Neighbors estimated that the Chinn’s had lived in the home for about 10 years.
Manning said that Pam Chinn’s uncle, Doyle Buhl, left the home to her when he died.
Neighbor Geneva Prewitt said she woke up early Friday morning and saw the flames light up the sky. Initially, she thought maybe it was an old vehicle parked behind the house that was burning but quickly determined that the blaze was too large to have simply been a vehicle fire.
"I saw the blaze. I stayed up and watched it until it kind of died down. I didn’t know what was happening," Prewitt said.
Prewitt said that she just talked to the Chinn’s Thursday.
"They’re good people," Prewitt said choking back tears. "They were good neighbors. It is so sad. I can’t imagine how it started. The house hadn’t been rebuilt that long. When I saw it the back of the house was blazing."
Another neighbor, Evelyn Cox, said she didn’t know that there had been a fire until she and Prewitt walked up to it Friday during their early morning, predawn walk.
"I was just hoping and praying no one was in there. It’s a shock to me," Cox said. "To hear about Pam, it was just heart breaking."
Cox noted that the couple frequently had grandchildren at their home, and she was just grateful that no one else was home when the blaze broke out.
Ronnie and Pam Chinn had a fencing business that involved Ronnie doing the actual construction work and Pam handled the bookkeeping, Manning said.
Manning noted that many people in Williamsburg got to know Pam quite well when she ran her father, Disel Buhl’s gas station, for a while.
"Pam was a special lady. She was a grandmother and a mother. She spent her life doing that. It was the pride of her life," Manning said.
"She and her husband, Ronnie, were very, very close. When you found one of them, you found the other almost all the time."
Funeral arrangements are incomplete and will be announced later by Croley Funeral Home.