On Tuesday, March 22 at approximately 7:25 p.m., the Lee Volunteer Fire Department (LVFD) responded to a report of a structure fire on Pioneer St. in the southeastern section of Madison County.
The responding units of the LVFD discovered that the singlewide mobile home was engulfed in flames and alerted other units in the county for back up response.
Madison County Fire Rescue sent a tanker and rescue unit to support the LVFD and Madison County EMS was on scene to deal with any injuries.
Also called to the scene were deputies of the Madison County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) after they received a call from the LVFD. The call involved a man who was reportedly trying to fight the volunteer firefighters.
Richard Anderson, 68, was reportedly spraying water on the mobile home via garden hose and refusing to comply with the requests of the firefighters to move aside and allow them to take over and more effectively fight the fire.
After Anderson became loud and aggressive towards the firefighters, deputies approached Anderson and instructed him to back away and stop yelling and using profanity while in the presence of the children who were on-scene along with other members of Anderson’s family.
Anderson refused to submit to the lawful requests of the deputies and began to curse at them as well.
After being told numerous times to cease his behavior, the deputies on-scene provided Anderson with a warning that he would be subject to arrest if he refused to comply.
Anderson continued to refuse to step back and allow the firefighters to perform their job at putting out the fire, which needed to be dealt with quickly to prevent it from spreading to the nearby trees and other buildings in the vicinity of the inflamed mobile home.
MCSO deputies informed Anderson that he was under arrest for disorderly conduct and interference. He was advised to place his hands behind his back.
Again, Anderson refused to comply and began to physically resist arrest and the deputies’ attempts to restrain him. After a brief struggle, deputies had to deploy a taser to gain Anderson’s compliance as he continued to physically resist the officers.
During the struggle between deputies and Anderson, family members of the subject began to become aggressive and moved to approach the deputies who were attempting to arrest Anderson.
After calling for backup, MCSO deputies were able to finally restrain Anderson and gain control of the situation. Anderson was placed under arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting an officer with violence. No injury was sustained to Anderson or the deputies.
Anderson was transported to the Madison County Jail without further incident, however he continued to refuse to cooperate with the arresting officer. Anderson received an additional charge of resisting an officer without violence.
The LVFD was able to control the fire and prevent the flames from spreading to any other structures or trees after being given the opportunity to perform their job. Tri-County Electric then evaluated the area to determine if any electrical circuits needed to be disconnected.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.