December 15, 2016 - A woman who was thought by relatives to have perished in a house fire early Thursday morning was found safe following a desperate search.
The Timpson Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene of the mobile home fire at the corner of McLaughlin Street and Holly Street at 3:15am, December 15, 2016 and the roof and walls had already burned down before their arrival.
Firemen worked to extinguish the flames and were informed the resident of the home was still inside. Seeing there was no possibility for someone to be alive within the home, the firemen began working to locate the remains of the victim of the house fire.
While the firemen were removing the roof of the mobile home, Timpson Police Chief Kent Graham arrived at the scene and with family members began searching the surrounding area of Timpson for Ariel Burleson, the resident. As the firemen continued searching what remained of the building, their dread was relieved with the arrival of Burleson on the scene at 4:30am as she had been found at another location.
When Burleson arrived, and during her distress of learning her residence was totally consumed by fire, she shouted someone had threatened earlier on the previous day to burn her house down.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time and the house was a total loss.
