Two people are dead and one was injured after a mobile home was fully engulfed in flames with victims trapped inside in Anderson County on Wednesday evening.
LIFESTAR airlifted Marianne Gremillion to UT Medical Center and she was last reported in stable condition Thursday afternoon, a news release from Anderson County Sheriff's Office said.
Gregory Paul Gremillion, 64, and Sharon Dee Worrill, Marianne's 54-year-old sister, were identified in the release as the two victims who died in the fire.
In the release, authorities said they believe Gregory had removed his wife, Marianne, from the fire and then went back in to the home to save Worrill, who had special needs. Both did not then make it out, the release said.
According to the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, three volunteer fire crews responded to the house fire on Scott Brogan Lane near Rocky Top around 5:30 p.m.
Gremillion was able to escape the home as it became engulfed. She's being treated in the Critical Care Unit at UTMC.
Jeff Bagwell with the Rural Metro Fire Department, which did not respond to the fire, said firefighters face a tough decision of whether its safe for them to attempt a rescue.
"I can tell you from personal experience that some of those decisions will will haunt you for a while," he said. "Especially in this case where there's a fatality involved, those guys may be going back, questioning what they did, what they could have done, what they could have done different. And those kinds of things are what really will haunt them."
When firefighters arrive on scene, he said, they evaluate how big the fire is--and what parts of the structure might burn next.
"Firefighters have to be on guard for some kind of structural collapse--roof or floor either one--on us while we’re trying to do a rescue," Bagwell said.
They also do a cost-benefit analysis to evaluate the chances someone may still be alive inside.
"Folks have to remember that the fire typically doesn’t kill people. It’s the smoke," he said.
Firefighters may only have a few seconds after arriving on scene to make this decision.
A preliminary report found the fire was caused by an electrical outlet inside the home.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is assisting the ACSO and Tennessee Fire Investigative Services to figure out what caused the fire.