‘They were wonderful people’: Child, pregnant woman among those killed in fire
LAWRENCE COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – A 7-year-old child, his father, and a pregnant woman were among a family of three that died in a Lawrence County house fire Thursday.
“They were wonderful people and I want everybody to know that,” Sharon Cassidy cried.
The family was surrounded by burnt remnants. It’s loss that’s hard to comprehend.
PREVIOUS: 3 dead, including 1 child, after Lawrence County house fire
“This has torn my family up,” Cassidy said.
Just minutes before the home on Morgan Road went up in flames Thursday morning, Cassidy spoke to her nephew Travis Wissner.
“He was just a hard working, good person,” Cassidy explained.
First responders found Wissner inside the bedroom of his home, along with his fiancé and 7-year-old son Jackson.
“Jackson was a ray of sunshine and he was just starting out,” Cassidy’s voice broke.
Travis’ fiancé, 18-year-old Paige Brown, was expecting a child in August, according to Cassidy.
“So I consider that I lost four people in this fire, not three,” Cassidy explained.
It was a horrific scene that Cassidy’s son Cody saw from his front door.
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“My grandparents basically raised us almost like siblings. I grew up in this house here; I grew up with my cousin,” Cody explained.
Cody, a volunteer firefighter, rushed to his cousin’s home knowing his loved ones were trapped inside. He busted out windows and did all he could to save them, with the help of crews from more than a half dozen departments.
“Whenever you see that it’s a family member and you start instantly feeling the terror of knowing that they’re in danger, it becomes very hard to think of anything,” he said.
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Now as neighbors, it’s a scene that the family has to constantly relive.
“It’s very hard,” Cody teared up.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the cause of the fire and if severe weather played a role.
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