MOUNT VERNON — A fire that started from an electrical short damaged a house on Carding Mill Road, a dead end road off Upper Gilchrist Road about six miles northeast of Mount Vernon, Tuesday afternoon. College Township Fire Chief Bill Smith said the fire started in wiring at the electric meter and spread into the wall of the two-story home.
The home, owned and occupied by Lois Wright, is partially constructed of old peg beam. Smith said the firefighters were driving down the lane, saw the smoke and thought they had a major fire on their hands. Smith then called for mutual aid with a tanker and engine from the Eastern Knox County Joint Fire District.
As they started fighting the fire they discovered the heavy beam construction was not burning and the fire was not spreading, Smith said. Firefighters used fire extinguishers to fight the fire until an Energy Cooperative crew arrived on the scene to cut the electricity to the home.
They pulled siding off the house to get to the fire and were able to contain it to the walls. To be certain all the fire was out in the wood, they hosed it down using about 1,000 gallons of water.
Smith said there is smoke damage throughout the house and some water damage in the area of the fire, including water that drained into the basement.
The Knox County Chapter of the American Red Cross was called to assist Wright.
