NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Three people are dead after flames ripped through a home in North Nashville Saturday morning.
Nashville Fire officials said crews responded to reports of a house fire in the 3000 block of Leondale Terrace at around 8:30 a.m.
Kendra Loney, the public information officer for the Nashville Fire Department said there is reason to believe the fire could have started intentionally and both homicide and fire detectives are investigating the incident.
NFD crews worked to quickly put out a house fire at the 3000 block of Leondale Terrace. One person was pulled from the home and transported to Vanderbilt. There were 2 victims found inside. Crews remain on scene as the investigation continues. @PIOKendra is on scene for updates. pic.twitter.com/CIrYIJ7rKa
— Nashville Fire Dept (@NashvilleFD) July 23, 2022
Metro Nashville Police identified the victims Sunday morning.
Officials report that 44-year-old Michael Young was pulled from the fire and transported to Vanderbilt. Metro Nashville Police report that Young died from his injuries at the hospital.
The two people found inside the home were 35-year-old Angela Burgess and 60-year-old Johnny Young.
Still outside of the home sat Gregory Ostine. He told NewsChannel 5 that Burgess was his daughter.
"I'm going to miss her. We stayed into it a lot but I'm going to miss her," he said.
He spent the day grieving and waiting to say goodbye to his daughter.
"I'm going to be here until they take my daughter out of there. If it's 2 o'clock in the morning, then I'll sit here until 2 o'clock in the morning," he said.
Ostine said his daughter was loving and caring.
"She liked to make her momma laugh and smile. She likes to eat, boy does she like to eat. Won't gain no weight, but she likes to eat," he said.
Next door neighbor Val Page said she had smelled the smoke but didn't think too much of it until she heard a knock on her door.
"I naturally assumed oh hell somehow it's jumped over and jumped into our house," Page said.
She never would have imagined a tragedy like this.
"You can't help but feel compassion for them. And even though some of the neighbors probably weren't really happy with the activity that it appeared might have been going on in the house everybody said the same thing because they're good people. We hope everybody is out of there you know," she said.
Nashville Fire officials said there are a lot of questions their working through. Like how many people lived in the house, why some were able to escape while others couldn't, and how the fire started in the first place.
"We're just trying to piece together what seems to be a big puzzle here and let our fire investigators and MNPD investigators do their job as well but hopefully to find the resolve for the victims' families," Loney said.
Burgess leaves behind 6 children. It's a heartbreak hard to put into words, and one after another.
"I just buried her brother four months ago now I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to deal with her," Ostine said.
As he works to move forward there is some solace in this time of grief.
"I can feel in my heart that my daughter is in a better place, in a good place," he said.
One of the victim's family members has set up a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral arrangements. Shamiah Henry, Johnny Young's daughter, is the page's organizer. Anyone interested in lending a helping hand is welcome to donate.
