Firefighters battle a Friday evening blaze in east Oak Ridge that destroyed a home and left a mother and her two teenage sons with minor injuries.
A mother and her two teenage sons suffered minor injuries and their home was destroyed in a Friday evening fire in east Oak Ridge that was possibly caused by an electrical problem.
Vanessa Todd, 42, and her two sons, Takoda Todd, 14, and Tyler Todd, 13, tried to battle the blaze with a garden hose and rescue their two cats and one dog, but the flames were too powerful.
Vanessa Todd and her son Tyler are pictured above with Oak Ridge Fire Department firefighter Mark White. Not pictured is Todd's other son, Takoda.
“The fire just burned my head,” Vanessa Todd said as she watched firefighters extinguish the flames at 413 East Drive. “It was so hot. I just turned around and ran back out.”
The soot-covered family was able to escape the fire, which started just before 5 p.m. Friday, although their hair was singed and they suffered from smoke inhalation. They were able to rescue their dog Kibo and one of the cats, Syrvio. The other cat, Buddy, is still missing.
