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Bed Is Reportedly

Ignited During

Restoration Work;

Damaged Limited

By NELSON MORAIS
Staff Writer

Firefighters successfully contained a fire Monday afternoon that originated in an upstairs bedroom in the historic Joseph R. Brown-Milligan House on South Main Street known as Boxwood Manor.

Greeneville Fire Chief Mark Foulks estimated damage to the home at $15,000 to $20,000.

All four Greeneville firefighting units, or 15 firefighters, responded to the call at 12:58 p.m. Foulks said the first unit of firefighters was on the scene three minutes later. The last unit left shortly before 3 p.m.

The fire chief said a bedroom in the home was being restored by owner Tom Weaver and an unnamed friend. They were grinding old metal nails down into old woodwork.

The friend was working alone in the bedroom when he accidentally generated sparks from a piece of hot metal that flew onto the bedding covering a bed, according to Foulks.

Apparently unaware of what happened, the worker who sparked the fire went to his truck to retrieve a tool, and when he returned, he saw the bed was on fire, Foulks said.

The fire department was then notified.

 House's History

The house originally belonged to Joseph R. Brown, a prominent 19th century Greenevillian, and until recent years was owned and occupied by his descendants.

"It's a very old and historic house," Foulks said.

He added that as firefighters contained the fire, they placed tarps over furniture on the first floor beneath the upstairs bedroom, in order to protect it from any water that might leak through the floor.
"We were just trying to (keep) damage minimal,"
Foulks said.

He said firefighters had to pull some insulation from the attic in their firefighting efforts, and that there also was "a little bit" of smoke damage upstairs.

Construction of the house began about 1855. It was completed after the Civil War.