MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Shelby County Fire Marshal has released more information about a devastating fire that left one Cordova family homeless over the 4th of July weekend.
According to reports, a firework was a “probable” source for that fire.
“We looked at the fire layer by layer as we sifted through the debris,” said Jake Haley, SCFD Fire Marshal. “This pointed us toward a point of origin pretty clearly,
and that in conjunction with what we were told by the individuals in the home, led us to believe that discharged fireworks that were placed into a garbage can,
probably had burning embers which likely smoldered and eventually caught the container on fire – spreading to the home and two vehicles in the driveway.”
It happened on River Pine Drive near Macon Road late Saturday night.
“All the kids rooms burned up. You can’t even reach upstairs,” said Tim Trahan, the owner of the home.
He, his ex-wife and three kids were winding down from their holiday festivities when they smelled smoke from the garage.
Everyone made it out except their rescue cat his youngest son named Mittens.
“He cried for like three hours over it. He was inconsolable,” said Trahan.
Yellow tape surrounded what was left of the home.
“It would be difficult to say it wasn’t firework related with it being the Fourth of July,” said Trahan this past week. “A lot of people shoot off fireworks. It’s a neighborhood tradition. I certainly hold no grudges. I do it every year.”
“They were all over the neighborhood. Very intense. To the level some of them were the same as what was let off on the Mississippi River,” said Sharon Cain, who lived a few doors down.
Cain said Saturday night was out of hand, and fireworks were going off in all directions.
“We went in the house for fear there would be a shooting torpedo coming at us,” she said.
Shelby County deputies said it’s illegal to shoot fireworks in Cordova, but Cain said no one enforced it.
After the incident, she called her state lawmakers to push for stricter laws.
Investigators told WREG if you are caught shooting fireworks where it is illegal, you can face anywhere from a fine to a felony.
