At 1:34 p.m. Saturday afternoon the Grantsville Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched by Calhoun Control to the home of Terry and Peggy Dye at Big Springs for a garage fire. Terry said that the fire began when the pipe of a wood stove in the rear of the building caught the outside of the building on fire and quickly spread to the inside. He and his daughter Mandee Richards attempted to put the fire out but knew quickly their efforts were futile so they began moving as many things from the building as they could. Although several tools and other pieces of equipment were lost, he was able to remove his tractor, side by side, four wheelers and a few other things outside so that no vehicles were lost.
Smithville Volunteer Fire Department also arrived on scene to offer mutual aid. It took the two departments working together for an hour or so before they completely extinguished the fire. With the moderately high winds the fire kept reigniting in several parts of the building creating hotspots that wouldn’t die. Fuels and other things stored in the building made the fire fight difficult at times as the water spread the gasoline in partly burned cans that had exposed the fuel.
This is not an issue unfamiliar to the Dye family as their grandchildren Kyler and Heather Propst just recently lost their garage on Mt. Zion Ridge to fire.
Also lost in the fire were several cigar boxes like the ones Terry shows off above. He had recently decided to start creating cigar box guitars as a new hobby. These were spared by being in an adjacent building.
Below is a slide show of the event. Scroll left or right to see the pictures.
