VIDEO: It was an unprecedented last month for Overton County, a small community just north of Cookeville. On Nov. 15, a house fire in Livingston claimed the lives of a 3-year-old and a 7-year-old. Then, just two days later, a two-year-old died in a house fire about 10 miles south.
Livingstonโs fire chief said it was an unprecedented month. โWeโve had some adult fatalities but never no children,โ Livingston Fire Chief Rocky Dial said.
Those tragedies have led to a new initiative: members of every Overton County fire department, which includes 12 volunteer departments, went door-to-door on Tuesday evening to check smoke alarms at homes.
โWe have never done a canvas. We have offered the detectors to be installed here in several departments of our county, but never done a complete, county-wide canvas,โ Dial explained. โWe feel like itโs a good push to get these people detectors. All they have to do is put up with us for 10, 15 minutes to get them installed.โ
