by: Chris Conte
DICKSON, Tenn.- Fire officials in Dickson are trying to
determine the cause of an early morning fire that killed one woman and her dog
on Sunday.
Family members tell NewsChannel 5 the woman who died was
62-year-old Peggy Clarkson.
"We've lived here for 21 years and Peggy has lived here for
five," said neighbor Elizabeth McClure on Sunday morning as she stood on her
front porch and looked over at what was left of the house next door.
"I have the key to Peggy's house, and I was trying to
run and get that key. I wanted to get in and get her out," McClure explained.
Fire officials say they got a 911 call around midnight and
arrived at the scene a few minutes later, but by then the fire already had the
upper hand.
"She was probably trying to get out, but I'm sure the smoke
is what overcame her," McClure added.
A string of recent back surgeries had left Peggy in a
walker, getting out of her brick house on a normal day Elizabeth says, was hard
enough.
"They (the firefighters) couldn't go in, they tried
and as they were doing that the roof fell in," McClure said.
In May, Peggy's husband, Chuck, died in a car
accident along Highway 70 in Dickson. Officials believe he had some type of
medical problem that caused his car to swerve and hit another vehicle killing a
local teacher.
"Not fair I guess, but we don't know what lies ahead
for any of us," she said.
As of Sunday, authorities had
not determined the official cause of the fire, but they do not believe that fire was intentionally set.
