Lisa Marchesoni
Posted: Tuesday, March 2, 2010 4:34 pm

Firefighters attack flames at the home of attorney Carla Ford and her husband W.W. Tuesday on Tiffany Court.

Attorney Carla Ford sobbed when she saw her Tiffany Court house severely damaged by fire Tuesday but cried out in joy each time Murfreesboro firefighters rescued her dogs.

Assistant Fire Marshal Nora Smith carried out Harley, a miniature Akita, Buddy, a red dachshund, Bandit, a mutt, and another dachshund. Firefighters saved three cats inside the house.

Ford cuddled Allie, saying it looked like she ran through ashes. She bottle-fed the dog as a pup.

Assistant Fire Chief Allen Swader said responding firefighters found flames coming from the attic. A Fed Ex employee delivering a package saw smoke and opened the door to make sure no one was home.

Ford’s mother, Libby Kent, had just gone to the bank and no one else was home.

Swader said Smith and Assistant Fire Marshal Carl Peas determined the cause appeared to be from a heat lamp warming the dogs outside. It ignited with fire traveling up the wall and into the attic.

The fire was ruled accidental. Firefighters saved the dogs and cats inside the house. They were also able to save Ford’s father’s ashes kept in her mother’s bedroom.

“They’re doing OK considering the circumstances,” Swader said of the Ford family.

Ford and her husband W.W. moved into the house 12 years ago. They lived there with Kent, three children and a grandchild.

“Thank God nobody was at home,” Ford said.

Her husband noted their children have moved in and back into the home.

“This is home,” he said as he glanced at the damage. “Now it’s gone.”

Carla Ford feared the fire destroyed the antique bedroom suite her father gave her mother 64 years ago, antique furniture, an antique bedroom suite from her Aunt Bessie and all the gifts her children made her through the years.

Most of the damage occurred in the parents’ bedroom and the grandchild’s bedroom. She had just spent $500 on clothing for the grandchild with the tags still on the clothes.

The house was insured. Firefighters called the American Red Cross to help the family with immediate needs.