Knox County Sheriffs Department

Knox County Sheriffs Department
INCIDENT REPORT
Official Law Enforcement Report - Unauthorized Dissemination is Prohibited
Incident Type: Fire / Undetermined
Agency Incident ID:
1411271920
Result Type:
BATS ID: i- 358041
Incident Date/Time/Location
Status
Investigation Inactive/Suspended
Jurisdiction
Primary
Start Date/Time
11/27/2014 04:49 Thursday
Address
12021 Couch Mill Road
City/State/Zip
KNOXVILLE
County
KNOX
, TN 37932
Investigator Information
Name
Phone
Email
Gregory A Lampkin
865-215-4664
greg.lampkin@knoxsheriff.org
Title
Investigator
Badge Number
2413
Property Use or Target Information

Type
Residential
Subtype
1 (Single Family) or 2 Family
Dwelling
This report may not be disseminated outside your agency without permission from the originating
agency.
Law Enforcement Sensitive
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Scene Details
Area of Origin/Device Placement
Area of Origin
Area of Origin Subtype

Common room, den, family room, living room,
lounge
Assembly, Sales Areas (Groups of People)

Fire Descriptors
Damage and Casualties
Est. Damage
Number of Injured
$173900.00
Pre Incident Value

$173900.00
Miscellaneous Information
Latitude
Longitude
35.938650
-84.199022
Custom Agency Information (Scene Details)

Custom Info 1
Custom Info 2
Detector present and Karns Volunteer Fire
NOT working
Department
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Person/Organization Information
Name
TRAVIS, TIMOTHY T
DOB
6/28/1982
Race
White
Sex
F
Age at time of Incident

32
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic
Juvenile
No
Relationship(s)
Injured, Interviewed Party, Occupant, Victim
Eye Color
Hazel
Hair Color
Brown
Height
5' 5"
Weight
150
Address Information
Street Address
City/State/Zip
County
KNOXVILLE
, KNOX
37932
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Name
TRAVIS, EMILY E
DOB
8/1/1985
Race
White
Sex
F

29
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic
Juvenile
No
Relationship(s)
Injured, Interviewed Party, Occupant, Victim
Address Information
Street Address
City/State/Zip
County
KNOXVILLE
, KNOX
37932
Contact Information
Primary Phone
865-973-0064
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Name
TRAVIS, QUINN
DOB
10/3/2011
Race
White
Sex
M

3
Ethnicity
Non-Hispanic
Juvenile
Yes
Relationship(s)
Injured, Occupant, Victim
Address Information
Street Address
City/State/Zip
County
KNOXVILLE
, KNOX
37932
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Name
TRAVIS, TIM T
Race
White
Sex
M
Juvenile
No
Relationship(s)
Owner
Address Information
Street Address
11210 Oak Hollow Road
City/State/Zip
County
KNOXVILLE
, 37932 KNOX
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Name
TRAVIS, JANICE
Race
White
Sex
F
Juvenile
No
Relationship(s)
Owner
Address Information
Street Address
11210 Oak Hollow Road
City/State/Zip
County
KNOXVILLE
, 37932 KNOX
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Result Type:

Agency Incident ID:
BATS ID: i- 358041
1411271920
Narrative(s)
Title
Fire Report
Author
Gregory Lampkin
8652154664
greg.lampkin@knoxsheriff.org
Description
SUMMARY NARRATIVE:
On Thursday November 27, 2014 at 04:49, a fire was reported at 12021 Couch Mill Rd. Karns Volunteer Fire
Department arrived to find the structure fully involved and collapsing.
PARTICIPATING FIRE INVESTIGATORS:
Knox County Fire Investigation Unit Fire Investigator Greg Lampkin participated in this fire scene
examination.
OWNER/ OCCUPANT INFO:
The listed owner of the property per KGIS, is Tim and Janice Travis. The owners son Tim Travis Jr, his wife
Emily, and one small child were the occupants of the house and were home at the time of the fire.
WITNESS STATEMENTS:
Tim Travis (occupant) was interviewed once at UT Hospital on the morning of the fire, and again on January
13, 2015. Mr. Travis stated he was sleeping on a couch in the front of the house when at some point he
discovered a fire near a half wall in the living room and exited the front door of the house. He then went
around the rear of the house and woke his wife who was sleeping in a rear bedroom. He then had to break the
window to get his wife and child to the outside of the house. Mr. Travis was very inconsistent on many details
of his story during the interviews and no conclusions as to his actions that night could be made.
Emily Travis was interviewed once at UT Hospital on the afternoon of the fire, and again on January 8, 2015.
She stated she was in bed asleep when she was awoken by her husband screaming. She said she woke up to
heavy smoke and went to her sons bedroom and got him. They made it back to her bedroom window where
she had trouble getting the window open until it was broken out. Her and her son exited the window and she
describes him as not breathing and limp. She performed several rescue breathes on him and he started to
breath on his on again. She stated she could see flames coming from over the front of the house and later
traveling towards the back windows. She reports that there were no candles in use at the time of the fire. She
states that her husband does smoke in the living room and has once set the futon on fire with a cigarette. She
reports nothing unusual about the evening of the fire and has no knowledge of how the fire started.
Caller #1 to 911 was a male that lived at the corner of Sam Lee and Couch Mill. He called at 0450hrs from
865-924-6676 and reported hearing several pops. He looked outside and saw fire coming from the front of
the house in an area described as where the living room window was located. He stated he had to call 911
several times before getting through.
Caller #2 to 911 was Victor Brown, a newspaper delivery person who was in the area delivering newspapers.
He called 911 at 0453hrs from 865-803-9498. He reported that he was on Steele Rd when he first saw flames,
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Agency Incident ID:
1411271920
Result Type:
BATS ID: i- 358041
and as he got closer he realized it was a house on fire. He stated the fire was coming from the front door and
picture window, and that flames were through the roof on the left end. He stated he was placed on hold a long
time when he called 911. As he was sitting near the house, he stated a man came up to him and told him there
was an injured child, he soon heard sirens coming so he left the scene.
A neighbor was awoken by her dog and looked out to see flames coming from the front door and porch of the
house. She called her daughter who in turn called 911. She states no fire trucks were on scene yet when she
saw this.
Karns Fire Department arrived to find the structure fully involved in fire and collapsing. The main portion of
the home was fully involved upon their arrival and they conducted a defensive attack on the fire. The right
side of the house, which contained the garage area was saved from the fire.
BUILDING CONSTRUCTION:
The structure was an approximately 2000 sq. ft. house built in 1994. An addition was recently completed on
the rear of the house. The structure was built of typical wood frame methods and materials. The street side
rooms of the house were at a higher level than the rest of the house. The living room had a high ceiling. The
windows in the rear of the house were under sized (3 x 3) which did not meet current building code and did
contribute to the difficulty in the occupants exiting the structure. The center bedroom were the child was
sleeping had been built around during the remodel and had two doors that entered different interior spaces in
the house, but no windows or any other opening to the exterior of the house. There were also no known
working smoke detectors in the house, and no new smoke detectors were reportedly installed in the new
addition, which did contribute to the late notification of the occupants to the fire. The new addition was built
without permit and received no inspections. The structure was served by LCUB electric and KUB Natural Gas
service.
SCENE PROCESSING:
I arrived on the scene during fire suppression operations, and remained on the scene continuously throughout
the processing. The structure had suffered major damage from the fire. The garage of the structure was on the
right hand side as looking from the street. The garage was still intact and had suffered very little fire or smoke
damage. Moving to the left, the structure went from burned framing to no framing to major floor burn through
on the far left of the structure. The room with the most loss of material was the living room. This is the room
with the picture window and front door where fire was seen by the three witnesses. The living room floor was
burned away as were the walls and all items that had been in it. The floor and walls became more prominent
as you moved away from the living room area. There was floor left in the area of the kitchen stove and floor
and full height walls left near the laundry room. The condition of the living room, inability to walk on the
floor, and loss of components prevented a thorough examination of fire cause.
EVIDENCE:
Photographs and diagrams were made during the processing of the fire scene.
FIRE PROGRESSION TO OTHER STRUCTURES:
The fire was contained to the structure of origin and did not spread to any other structures. There was heat
damage to an outbuilding to the left of the house.
INJURIES/ FATALITIES:
There were three injuries as a result of this fire, all to the buildings occupants. Two were treated and released
agency.
Page:

INCIDENT REPORT
Agency Incident ID:
1411271920
Result Type:
BATS ID: i- 358041
from the hospital for smoke inhalation and cuts. Mrs. Travis was admitted to the hospital for smoke
inhalation.
ESTIMATED DOLLAR LOSS:
The damages are estimated at $ 173,900
WEATHER:
The weather, as reported by weatherunderground.com for Knoxville at 0453 am was: temperature 39F; winds
variable at 5.8 MPH; Humidity 73%; the skies were mostly cloudy and there were no thunderstorms in the
area.
INSURANCE:
The structure had any insurance at the time of the fire by Liberty Mutual, this coverage was from the owners
and the occupants had no renters insurance.
CONCLUSION:
All fire patterns and witness statement lead me to determine that the origin of this fire is in the living room.
No cause determination could be made, and several possibilities remain as possible fire causes. The fire cause
is undetermined after investigation.
DISPOSITION:
This case is inactive pending any further information.
agency.
Page:
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INCIDENT REPORT
Agency Incident ID:
1411271920
Result Type:
BATS ID: i- 358041
This section intentionally left blank
Investigator - Lampkin, Gregory
Date
Investigator - Lampkin, Gregory
Date
agency.
Page:
11

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