Geneva Pace, who owns and leases three mobile homes in a small trailer park at the end of County Road 568 in the Johnson’s Crossing community of southwest Cullman County, said a tenant, Natasha Crabtree, with her 3-year-old and 6-week-old sons in tow, came running out of their trailer shortly after noon Tuesday, screaming that their mobile home was on fire.

“She ran up on the porch and was yelling that their home was on fire. I came out and could see flames shooting out from the middle of the trailer where the little boy’s bedroom is,” Pace said. “The fire had already caught grass around the trailer on fire and I quickly grabbed the water hose to try and keep the fire from spreading to my vehicles and a propane tank nearby.”

Crabtree’s husband Kevin was not home at the time of the fire, Pace said.

Jimmy Self, who lives in the trailer on the other side of the Crabtree’ home, heard the screaming and came outside to find the mobile home totally engulfed in flames.

“I grabbed my water hose and began spraying the ground around the base of my trailer. The fire had caught the grass on fire and had already made it to the skirting around my trailer,” Self said. “I also did my best to keep flames from a nearby propane tank. The heat and flames from the fire were so intense that it melted rubber on an old van I had parked at the end of my trailer.”

The end of Pace’s mobile home closest to the Crabtree trailer sustained some minor damage from the heat.

“There’s only about 20 feet separating the two trailers and the heat melted some of the siding on that end of my trailer,” Pace said. “There was nothing we could do to save the trailer that caught fire. The fire spread so quickly. By the time fire departments arrived it was a total loss.”

Hanceville Fire Chief Mike Watson said his department received the fire call at 12:25 p.m. and were the first to arrive on the scene. Johnson’s Crossing Volunteer Fire Department also responded.

“When we arrived about half of the trailer was fully involved. It burned very quickly. The most we could do was prevent the flames from spreading to nearby homes,” Watson said. “That’s the thing about a mobile home fire. Once the fire starts burning it’s usually a total loss in 15 to 20 minutes.”

Watson said he was able to speak to Natasha Crabtree, who had left the scene to take her children to a family member’s home.

“The family lost everything. She didn’t even have shoes on when she ran out of the trailer with her children,” Watson said. “It’s just a really bad thing to have happen this close to Christmas. My heart really goes out to them.”

Watson said Crabtree indicated she and her family planned to stay with family members for the time being.

“I plan to contact Red Cross to see what can be done to help the family,” Watson said. “We plan to do everything we can to see that they are taken care of. I’m relatively new to the area, but I understand that the local Red Cross is quick to come to the aid of fire victims. I’d also like to encourage those in the community who may be able to contribute clothing and other items to do so. In times like these it’s important that we are there for one another.”