KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Lindale Fire Destroys $35,000 worth of property

Lindale Fire Destroys $35,000 worth of property

LINDALE, TX (KLTV)- On Sunday afternoon, firefighters scrambled to CR 496, outside of Lindale, but by the time the flames were under control, $35,000 worth of damage was done and a mobile home was lost.

Authorities say they think the fire started when a window air conditioning unit over-heated.

 "Some passer-bys came by the house.. Saw this end to the left of the mobile home on fire. There is a small window ac unit located on that end of the mobile home and all the fire was seen in that area," said Assistant Smith County Fire Marshal Connie Wasson.

Officials said their investigation didn't turn up any other possibilities.

"The gentleman who lives here, Mr. Sawn, had left this morning around 9 a.m. He did not do any cooking this morning and he does not smoke we've already checked all of that out," Wasson said.

The Smith County Fire Marshal's Office said they believe this is the second mobile home recently lost because of an over-heating air conditioning unit.

"Just this weather and this heat and the temperatures the way they are... they're working extremely hard to keep the houses cool," Wasson said.

Officials said aside from the mobile home, three storage units, a truck, seven bales of hay and between five and ten acres were lost and the owner didn't have insurance on any of it.

While the fire didn't cross property lines... it did have multiple Smith County volunteer departments working to put it out.

"We had 14 fire fighters.. probably had it under control in about 30-35 minutes. We had assistance from Red Springs Fire and Dixie Fire.. Dixie had two units, Red Springs had two and we had 5," Lindale Fire Chief Jerry Garner said.

In the midst of this East Texas drought when even the smallest spark can cause major damage.

The fire marshal's office said they'll follow up on this investigation tomorrow to make sure that the fire was in fact started by the AC unit.