Early morning fire ousts family from home

A fire in the Winchester Oaks subdivision of Nelson woke neighbors with a start this morning. FYN is attempting to determine who made the call to the Pickens 9-1-1 but Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather stated they were notified of the structure fire at 5:47 a.m.Pickens County Sheriff’s Office Captain Sherman McEntire said,

“There weren’t any injuries, no fatalities, everyone is accounted for”

as he surveyed the scene while Cherokee investigators conducted their research around noon today at the home located at 7 Barrel Way.

Neighbors Richard and Shannon Poag said they awakened to the sound of the emergency responders but had no previous knowledge there was a fire or who may have called it in. After being awakened, they stated there was heavy smoke which escalated quickly within a few minutes.

The Poags reported they also sustained some damage to their home with a window cracking and the exterior paint bubbling.

“As the fire was going, two of our breakers went off too so we have to wait on an electrician to determine the extent of damage,”

Richard said.

Prather stated that due to an agreement with the city of Nelson, part of which lies in Cherokee, the home is included in their fire district although it does lie within Pickens County borders.

“It was a total loss but other than that no determination of cause has been made yet,”

he stated.

He said the first unit on-scene was Tate EMS who verified the Poags’ statement of a heavy fire before the other units arrived. He said Cherokee County sent Battalion 2, Squad 2, Engine 2, Rescue 2, Truck 21, Engine 21, Engine 15, Service Truck 8, both investigators, several volunteers and himself. Although unsure of exactly whom Pickens sent, he was able to recall the Tate EMS unit, Pickens Engine 51, Rescue 11, Chief Bob Howard and both Pickens County investigators at the site.

Pickens County Sheriff’s Office and Cherokee Fire Investigators comb scene.