Richard Fletcher, 76, was found — seated on a sofa inside his mobile home on Ladd Springs Road, said Chief Steve Lofty of West Polk County Volunteer Fire and Rescue.
“The call was received at 4:55 p.m. and our first responders were on the scene within minutes,” said Lofty.
“Bystanders found a tree across his trailer but could not get inside. He was inside but not trapped by the tree,” Lofty added.
Lofty added Fletcher had only very minor abrasions on his hands, the only signs of trauma noted.
Fletcher was reportedly on oxygen and had prior medical conditions, according to Lofty.
Power lines were also downed in the area of his trailer home, located in the southern portion of Polk County.
“Our fire rescue personnel removed the rear of the trailer to gain entry. It was determined he had died,” said Lofty.
Storms reached into the Tennessee Valley causing widespread damage in a number of areas including Bradley County.
Trees were down, structures damaged and utility crews kept busy after the storm which seemed to concentrate in the southern portion of the county.
The Black Fox community, McDonald and areas along APD 40 were hardest hit, according to Bradley County Emergency Management Agency’s Matthew Cason.
A roof was sheared from a barn at the Campbell farm, and damage at the Coca-Cola plant was reported, according to EMA Director Troy Spence.
Dennis Daniel of Cleveland Utilities said crews were quick to get power restored to approximately 8,000 customers. Most of those customers were located in the southern portion of the county.
“We had two distribution and two transfer circuits, which fed three substations, affected,” said Daniel.
According to Daniel, 7,465 customers were without power for 41 minutes.
“Our tree-trimming program is really aiding us,” he said.
Daniel said three utility crews and three tree-trimming crews have been dispatched to Chattanooga today to aid in cleanup efforts.
According to news outlets, over 26,000 Electric Power Board customers were affected with outages.
Volunteer Energy Cooperative’s Robert McCarty said about 5,000 customers were affected in Polk and Bradley counties but almost all have had their power restored. The exceptions were damaged homes which could not have service turned back on pending storm-related repairs.
Funeral arrangements for Fletcher are being made through Jim Rush Funeral Homes, Wildwood Chapel.
