Fire Claims Life Of Yalobusha Man
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Almost 30 firefighters from across Yalobusha County battled a house fire Saturday night and Sunday morning. The homeowner died from injuries sustained in the fire. – Photo by John Beshears
VELMA – A Yalobusha County man died Sunday from injuries sustained in a house fire late Saturday night. Yalobusha County Coroner Ronnie Stark reported James “Buddy” Durr, Jr., 67, died Sunday at Regional One Hospital in Memphis.
Yalobusha County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director Stewart Spence reported that Velma Fire Department was initially dispatched to the fire at Durr’s residence on Hwy. 7 several miles south of Water Valley at 10:57 p.m. Saturday night.
Spence, who also serves on the Velma Fire Department, arrived on the scene approximately three minutes later and asked the dispatcher to request the Water Valley Fire Department respond for mutual aid.
“The call came out as smoke in the house,” he explained. “I could smell smoke as soon as I pulled up on the scene.”
Other Velma firefighters arrived at the home approximately six minutes after the call. As hoses were pulled from the first fire truck on the scene, Spence said there very little smoke inside the home and both occupants were out of the residence.
Firefighters entered the house with a water hose in an attempt to locate the fire, but had to exit the house and put on air tanks as the amount of smoke and fire intensified rapidly.
When Spence went back inside the house with an air pack, he heard someone inside the home. He would later learn that Durr went inside the residence through another entrance just before the fire intensified.
Spence was able to locate the homeowner inside, and got him out with the help of firefighters Kyle Spence and Brandon Crocker.
“As soon as we got him outside, we called for an ambulance and a helicopter. Both ambulances (in the county) got there fast,” Spence added.
With the helicopter still almost 20 minutes away, Durr was transported in an ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Oxford. He was then flown to the Regional One Hospital in Memphis.
Thirty-plus firefighters from eight of the county’s 10 departments responded to assist with the fire. Spence said the scene was cleared around 4 a.m. Sunday morning.
“This was a very large house, we put roughly 40,000 gallons of water on it,” Spence said.
Spence also reported deputies from the Yalobusha County Sheriff’s Department assisted, providing traffic control and periodically closing the highway as tankers from different departments shuttled water to the pumpers on the scene.
“This was a tragic event, the firefighters had to come together and keep working. Our job was to keep from losing the house, even though it was a tough scene. I am proud of the response,” Spence said.
Spence also reported the state fire marshal will investigate the fire.
“We call the fire marshals to investigate anytime there is a burn victim or a fatality in a fire,” he explained.
Funeral arrangements were not complete at presstime. Stark reported Seven Oaks Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Durr’s death is the first fire-fatality in the county since Dec. 25, 2021. John Pryor died after he was in the hospital for weeks. He was burned in a fire near Hawkins Crossing on Dec. 2, 2021.
