Editor's note: WBIR was holding off on releasing the names of the victims until law enforcement confirmed the next of kin had been notified. It has been three days since the fire and family members also provided the names of the victims to WBIR and multiple other news organizations. An eviction notice dated April 20, 2018 confirmed the adult victims as Patricia Gail Mishoe, 53, Raymond Earl Mishoe, 54, Olivia Gail Mishoe, 27, and David Morgan.
A community stood in shock Monday, less than 48 hours after a deadly fire swept through an Alcoa home, killing four adults and two children.
Signs in front of Wright Road still read closed to through traffic, but if you live on the street, like Heather Travis, you can make your way through. When she got off of work at 7 a.m. Sunday, she saw firetrucks and cars lined up and down near her home. As she walked up to a police officer standing at the end of the street, she feared the worst.
"'I'm sorry ma'am, you can't come down here' and then I said, that's my house,'" Travis recalled.
Her house did not catch fire. The damage was done two houses down.
"It was eerie after that because it was so burned up.The fire was out at that point, but it looked bad," Travis said.
As of Monday evening, Alcoa Police have not released the names of the victims. WBIR will not release the names of the victims until the Alcoa Police Department confirms their identities.
Travis says they were a nice family. Two older adults, two adults her age, and two small kids.
She would often see them around the neighborhood.
"Her and her husband were outside with their kids, they'd wave, I'd do the same thing outside with mine. I'd see them playing and just say hello as I go by," Travis said.
Stephen Hicks is a chaplain with Alcoa PD. He responded to the fire, offering a hand, an ear and a prayer to anyone who needed it.
"I tell people the last good night's sleep I got was before someone handed me my first badge," Hicks said.
He spoke with the family of the victims and the first responders. They struggle to find meaning as the fire still roars in their minds. What can Hicks do? Be there. Be present.
"They call it a Ministry of Presence, to be there and support, to put a comforting hand on people," he said.
Travis still needs that comforting hand.
"I tried to go to work last night and couldn't get through a shift," she said.
As the rain falls a day too late, she urges everyone to hold their family a little tighter tonight.
"I'm a mother in the same type of family," she said. "I know their kids were the same age as mine, and I just look at my kids and say no way. No way."