Fire Destroys Lake Home in Austin Bottom Community

A fire Monday destroyed a lake home on Askin Lane off Austin Bottom Road belonging to Martin McGill of Brentwood
Central dispatch received the call at 11:32 a.m.
Members of the Short Mountain Highway, Cookeville Highway, Austin Bottom, and Main Station of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded along with mutual aid assistance from the Baxter and Putnam County Fire Departments.
Lieutenant Brad Mullinax said no one was at home when firefighters arrived but the owner, McGill showed up a short time later.
The two story structure, which also had a basement, became fully engulfed in flames by the time the fire was reported so firefighters could not save it, nor any of the home’s contents. McGill told firefighters that the home had an appraised value of $850,000.
Firefighters worked to keep the blaze from spreading to four other structures in the area but radiating heat caused some minor damage to the porch of the nearest neighbor home only a few feet away.
The cause of the fire is undetermined but remains under investigation.
Meanwhile, another fire was reported at 3:48 p.m. Monday at a trailer home in the Midway community near Page Drive reportedly belonging to Johnny Cantrell. The fire destroyed the trailer. The cause is apparently undetermined. The trailer had reportedly been occupied recently by a relative of Cantrell but was apparently vacant at the time of the fire.
Members of the Midway, Blue Springs, and Keltonburg Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded.