MURFREESBORO – A Murfreesboro resident is homeless after a fire swept through her home here last week.

According to Murfreesboro Fire Chief Billy Deanes, a call was made to the emergency dispatch center shortly before 2:27 p.m. on January 3, by a concerned neighbor who noticed smoke and flames emanating from the home.

&uot;When we arrived, the house was fully engulfed,&uot; Deans said, who contacted Conway Volunteer Fire Department for assistance.

&uot;Thankfully, no one was inside,&uot; he said.

The home’s owner, Agnes Scott, of 127 Leaf Street in Woodridge Mobile Home Park, told Deanes she had just left to go to a friend’s house and when she returned she could see smoke.

&uot;She tried to put out the fire by using a garden hose, but when she pulled on the hose the spicket broke off,&uot; Deanes said.

&uot;When she realized she couldn’t put it out herself she did, however, close the doors so the fire would be cut off from its oxygen supply, which was smart,&uot; he said.

An unattended clothes dryer was cited as the culprit in the blaze.

&uot;The dryer overheated and caught both the clothes and the lint on fire,&uot; Deanes said.

Heavy smoke and fire damage to the structure, which burned through to the tin, left an estimated $10,000 in damages. The home was not insured.

&uot;The best piece of advice I can give is don’t leave dryers unattended. If you must go out, turn them off,&uot; said Deanes.

&uot;Dryers come with a thermostat built into them and they are designed to turn off automatically, but sometimes, as is true with older machines, it will not turn off.&uot;

He continued, &uot;Dryers like any other machine need to be serviced periodically. The main thing in this instance is that no one got hurt, but it is better to be safe than sorry.&uot;

Deanes expressed appreciation for Conway’s aid and quick response and recalled a total of 17 firefighters who responded to the scene (eight from Murfreesboro and nine from Conway).

A similar instance occurred in Millennium a few weeks earlier when a resident left a dryer running to go to the store. Only a portion of their home was damaged.