By By ROBERT BLANKENSHIP – Managing Editor
A fire in the community of Teddy destroyed a home and claimed the life of a female resident.
Margaret Williams, 58, was inside her home, located at 670 Teddy Road, Thursday morning when flames ignited and engulfed the house. When volunteer firefighters arrived there was no opportunity to enter the house as it was said to be fully involved by that time.
At approximately 8 a.m. Thursday, volunteer firefighters with the Boykin-Damascus Fire Department were called to the scene of the fire. They were also notified at that time that someone was believed to be inside the house.
Volunteer firefighter Willie King was among the first to arrive on the scene.
The Boykin-Damascus firefighters were soon joined by members of the Dixie Volunteer Department. After using all of the water in the Boykin-Damascus tanker, they were able to continue fighting the fire
with the water provided by the Dixie tanker. In the meantime, the Boykin-Damascus tanker went to be refilled. In all, King said it took about 20 to 30 minutes to knock the flames out.
King said he felt that the fire had been burning for some time and that those firefighters on the scene hoped that the resident was able to get out.
The firefighters began to search for Williams in the immediate area and in several structures located close to the house.
According to King, a relative who lived nearby said Williams suffered from arthritis and was not able to get around very well.
The death of Williams was all but confirmed after the fire was extinguished and a body was found.
A state fire marshall responded to the scene later in the day and will be investigating the cause of the fire.
A total of eight volunteer firefighters - four from Boykin-Damascus and four from Dixie - responded to the scene.