Fire destroys Jacksonville Home

A fire destroyed a home in Jacksonville Wednesday morning, just hours after the homeowners departed on a trip to Tennessee.

 According to Jacksonville Fire Chief Wade Buckner, a concerned citizen who lives next to the Stoney Brook Golf Course spotted smoke and flames coming from a home over a half-mile away at 1507 Valley Brook Drive.  Firefighters arrived at the scene at 7:20 a.m. and spent three hours working to extinguish the blaze.

 A relative of the homeowners said the family left town on Tuesday for a New Year's vacation in Gatlinburg. 

 The initial report said that there was a possible entrapment inside, that some of the occupants were possibly in there when firefighters arrived and saw the vehicles in the driveway.  Firefighters were able to quickly determine that no one was home .

Jacksonville firefighters, many of whom are still recovering from a flu virus that sickened half of the department, were assisted by crews from Weaver and Alexandria. Altogether, 18 firefighters helped to put out the fire and monitor for hot spots.