Tennessee officer loses everything in Thanksgiving fire
WARTBURG, Tenn. Dec 3 2021 The Fairfield Glade Police department is rallying around one of their detectives after he lost his home in a fire on Thanksgiving day.
No one was home at the time, but the inside was almost completely destroyed.
Now Detective Allen Dagley and his family are trying to figure out what comes next.
“You don’t ever want to ask for anything,” said Dagley through tears. “That’s the hard part. You don’t want to have to ask.”
“I would describe him as a compassionate person,” said Police Chief Michael Williams. “He cares about his job and his family and the community he serves.”
Dagley has worked for the Fairfield Glade Police Department since 2018.
He volunteered to work Thanksgiving morning and had plans to meet his family at his dad’s house for Thanksgiving dinner that afternoon.
“I’d only been there 14 minutes and my sister got the call,” he said. “My dad walked in and he pointed at me and he said your house is on fire.”
Dagley says he doesn’t remember much between that moment and when he got to his home in Wartburg. He called Williams who met him there.
“Once I arrived and walked in, the fire department was still at the scene and the structure may have been standing but the inside was just a complete loss,” said Williams. The Dagleys were able to salvage a few items of clothing, but everything else was a total loss.
“He’s very modest,” said Williams. “That’s just the way he is, but I know he needs help.”
That’s why the Fairfield Glade Police Department is asking people to make donations to help them get back on their feet. Diapers, clothing, or gift cards can be dropped off at the police station at 5160 Peavine Rd, Crossville, TN 38571.
A donation account has been set up at First National Bank of Tennessee to assist the family.
“I’m always on the helping side getting there and making sure everybody’s Okay,” Dagley said. “This is, I’ve never had anything happen like this.”
Detective Dagley is used to caring for his community, but now his community is trying to care for him and his family in their time of need.
Dagley said this was the house he grew up in. His dad actually built it. So he hopes to rebuild from the ground up sometime in the spring. For now, they’re staying with family and looking for a place to rent.
According to Wartburg Fire Department, several animals were pulled out of the house and one did not make it.
