The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 06:36 PM

Seymour Residents Shocked By Balls of Fire Shoot Into Neighborhood

SEYMOUR, Tenn. (WVLT) People watched in shock as balls of fire shot into an East Tennessee neighborhood. Folks in Seymour a local Knoxville news agency they've never seen anything so strange before.

"This was like something out of a movie," said Felicia Garcia from Seymour.

Garcia told WVLT, Knoxville's local CBS affiliate, the fire was caused by an old tree that fell and landed on the power line during Monday's storm.

"Every time the wind would blow a little bit, it would jerk that tree and it would send a power ball down the lines," said Betty Garcia from Seymour.

Garcia immediately shut the breakers off and called 911, and crews arrived on scene shortly after. Thomas Loveday, an arborist for T & T Tree Service, told Local 8 News dead trees are disasters waiting to happen when storms roll through.

"Something devastating like that is a big concern, so that's why we're here to serve the community, preventative maintenance is going to be the key," said Loveday.

The sight, sound and smell is something that will be hard for Garcia to forget, but she told Local 8 News she feels lucky.