Owner speaks out after losing home to unexpected fire

LURAY Tenn. – The Chester County fire department and law enforcement responded to a call of a house fire that occured Friday night November 29th. The owner Ronald Preuss was in the home when he noticed something unusual was happening.

“I was on the second floor when it initially started and I smelled the smoke and went downstairs…saw the grey…grey smoke. Where the breakers are the whole thing was on fire. You could hear the hissing. There was a hissing sound. Okay, almost like air being let out of a tire,” said Ronald Preuss, owner of home.

Preuss tells us that the contributions from the community and the American red cross organization have helped make a difference.

“The guy got out and said my little daughter insisted we bring you a tent and some blankets. She would not stop until we brought these out to you. She drives by here…she sees the dogs all the time. That little girl saved my life, and every since then every single day someone has done something to just overwhelm me,” said Ronald Preuss, owner of home.

According to the owne, this started as an electrical fire that he was unaware was being fed. He mentions previous issues that he had with a power surge that blew a transformer at his home about a month ago. The home is considered a total loss.

“The TBI, three sheriffs, three investigators and the deputy sheriff all came out here yesterday. I’ve been completely clear. It’s either option a which is accidental or option b that is accidental,” said Ronald Preuss, owner of home.

Pruess feels optimistic about what’s next for him and tells us this.

“You can’t sit there and dwell on what’s behind you, you’ve got to dwell on what can I do to make everything better going forward. Not just for me but the people around me and in my case the dog that I take care of,” said Ronald Preuss, owner of home.

We did try to reach out to the TBI fire investigator who conducted the inspection and he has yet to get back in contact with us at this time.