CORDOVA, Tenn. — A Cordova family is homeless while investigators try to figure out what caused the massive fire that swallowed their home over the holiday weekend.
The family and neighbors have their own theory: fireworks ignited the flames.
Fire crews are not ruling out their theory.
Fireworks are one of several causes they’re looking at.
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 surrounds what’s left of the home until investigators figure out what exactly happened.
“It would be difficult to say it wasn’t firework related with it being the Fourth of July,” said Trahan. “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 lives a few doors down and is on the neighborhood association board.
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 is illegal to shoot fireworks in Cordova, but Cain said no one enforced it.
Today, she called her state lawmakers to push for stricter laws.
While she waits on a call back, Trahan said he and his family will try to move on.
“Pretty much everything we had is gone,” he said.
Investigators told WREG if you are caught shooting fireworks where it is illegal, you can face anywhere from a fine to a felony.