Lightning strike ‘most probable cause’ of fatal Lawrence County fire

Erin McCullough
·1 min read

LAWRENCEBURG, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Lawrence County fire that claimed the lives of a 7-year-old boy, his father, and a pregnant woman was likely caused by a lightning strike, fire officials have said.

Lawrence County Fire Rescue Units responded to the blaze on Morgan Road a little before 8 a.m. Thursday, May 9. Jackson Lee Wissner, 7, and his father, Travis Lee Wissner, 28, were killed, as was Elizabeth Paige Brown, 18, who was pregnant.

3 killed in Lawrence County, TN fire

Lawrence County fire officials said they concluded a lightning strike could not be eliminated as a cause of the fire.

Evidence on the scene, witness statements and lightning strike data place lightning in the area prior to the fire, according to the Lawrence County Fire & Rescue Association.

Working smoke alarms were not detected in dispatch recordings, and the first arriving firefighters did not hear smoke alarms sounding on scene, fire officials said in a release.

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“The cause of the fire has been determined to be accidental with the most probable cause being a lightning strike,” the release stated.

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