More Blazes Keep Firefighters Busy

The DeKalb County Sheriff's Department is investigating a suspicious fire Thursday morning at a home under construction at 124 Mountain View Drive in Lakeview Mountain Estates.

Central dispatch was notified at 9:06 a.m.

County Fire Chief Donny Green said neighbors spotted smoke coming from the basement of this home, which belongs to a Murfreesboro couple. The owners were not there.

When firefighters arrived, they found a campfire type blaze in the basement, with rocks placed around a wood pile which had been set on fire. A drink bottle and food wrappers were also found nearby. Chief Green said the entire house was filled with smoke, but there was no structural damage.

According to Chief Green, there was evidence of another fire in the basement, which appeared to have been set days before and had burned out.

Green said the owners of the home recently became concerned after finding a sleeping bag in the basement. They reported the discovery to the sheriff's department.

Members of the Cookeville Highway, Short Mountain Highway, and Main Station of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded along with DeKalb EMS and the Sheriff's Department. No one was injured.

Meanwhile, the Smithville Volunteer Fire Department was summoned to a duplex at 370 Smith Road, Friday morning at 2:42 a.m., the residence of Naith Puckett.

According to Chief Charlie Parker, Puckett said when he arrived home and opened the front door he found the residence filled with smoke. The fire had started and caused extensive damage to a back bedroom, but the blaze had already burned itself out by the time firefighters arrived. The fire damage was confined to Puckett's side of the duplex and did not spread to the adjoining residence, although the woman who lives there reported smelling smoke earlier in the morning, but went back to bed after looking around and not finding any fire or smoke.

Chief Parker said city firefighters cleared the smoke, using fans to ventilate Puckett's residence. The cause of the fire is undetermined, but remains under investigation. No one was injured.

Members of the Austin Bottom and Cookeville Highway Stations of the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department responded to a barn fire Friday morning at 3:48 a.m. at 9440 Goff Ridge Road in the Austin Bottom community. The barn, which belonged to Dan Bradem, was destroyed. No one was injured but some rabbits in the barn perished in the blaze.

Bradem, whose home is located near the barn, told firefighters that he heard a loud boom, went to check, and discovered the fire.

DeKalb Jobless Rate Drops to 9.1% in September

DeKalb County's unemployment rate continues to drop, sliding from 9.6% in August to 9.1% in September. That's also down from 10.3% in September 2009.

The local labor force for the month of September was 9,710. A total of 8,820 were employed and 890 were without work that month.

DeKalb County's jobless rate for the month was fourth lowest in the fourteen county Upper Cumberland region. Here's how they rank from highest to lowest:

Pickett County-13%
White- 11.5%
Fentress- 10.8%
Van Buren- 10.7%
Clay- 10.7%
Warren- 10.6%
Jackson- 10.1%
Cannon- 9.5%
Cumberland-9.3%
Overton-9.2%
DeKalb-9.1%
Smith- 8.5%
Putnam- 8.4%
Macon- 8.3%

Meanwhile, Tennessee's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for September was 9.4 percent, down two-tenths of a percentage point from the August rate of 9.6 percent. The national unemployment rate for September was unchanged at 9.6 percent.

County non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rates for September 2010 show that the rate decreased in 85 counties, increased in seven counties and remained the same in three counties.

Lincoln County registered the state's lowest county unemployment rate at 6.0 percent, down from the August rate of 6.3 percent. Scott County had the state's highest unemployment rate at 19.9 percent, up from 19.8 percent in the previous month, followed by Marshall County at 15.6 percent, down from the August rate of 15.9 percent.

Knox County had the state's lowest major metropolitan rate of 7.1 percent, down from 7.6 percent in August. Hamilton County was 7.8 percent, down from 8.7 from the previous month. Davidson County was 9.1 percent, down from 9.5 percent, and Shelby County was 9.8 percent, down one-tenth of a percentage point from August.