Fire destroys home in Hartselle

Joy Harris

Hartselle Enquirer

The Massey Volunteer Fire Department responded to a house fire at 1686 Ray Road in Hartselle Sunday evening.

Two people were in the house when the fire started, but no injuries were sustained. The home was a complete loss.

Massey dispatched four engines, and Hartselle Fire Department sent one engine and five men to give mutual aid to Massey’s volunteers. The call came at 7:07 p.m. Both departments fought the fire for about three or four hours before it was extinguished.

The fire started from a spark in the tubing of homeowner Roy McCurry’s oxygen tank, according to media reports. His wife, Shirley McCurry, tried to put out the spark with a towel, but the fire began to spread.

Since Roy McCurry could not walk, his wife had to drag him to safety.

“I got my arms under the front of him and just walked him out,” Shirley McCurry told WHNT. “I walked out backwards. I dragged him out facing me.”

The McCurry couple had reached the front porch when Roy’s oxygen tank exploded in the house. Although the fire spread quickly, they were able to escape without problem.

The couple had lived in the house for 53 years.

Both Massey and Hartselle firefighters responded to the fire on Ray Road Sunday evening. | Special to the Enquirer