By JILL MCNEAL
6 News Anchor/Reporter
MARYVILLE (WATE) - A Blount County family will have to start over after lightning hit their home Wednesday.
The strike sparked the flames, which destroyed Brie and Scott Gillespie's house on Potter Road.
The Gillespies could do nothing but sit by and watch as the three-story log home they built with their own hands burned to the ground.
"It's just gone. All that work is gone, but the people are safe," Scott said.
Brie and their four-year-old son were home at the time.
"Lightening struck the house and then within five minutes I looked out the window and realized the upstairs back porch was on fire," Brie said.
She knew she had to get out.
"We ran and I grabbed three pictures off the wall," she said. "I feel sick to my stomach."
Blount County firefighters couldn't stop the flames from eating away at the home.
"For safety reasons," explained Capt. Jim Patty, with the Blount County Fire Protection District. "There's nothing to save at this point. It's already gone."
Firefighters had use all their water to keep the large propane tank next to the house from exploding.
"That tank can kill us all," Patty said.
Nothing from the home can be salvaged, including Scott's 1961 Coupe de Ville in the garage and Brie's Dodge Charger in the driveway.
"We've been working to pay it off. My wife had just told me we had just gotten enough to pay it off," Scott said.
This was Scott's dream home on his dream plot of land. He said he will rebuild right here.
"It's gone, but my wife's okay. My son's okay. We'll get us some more clothes and start life again tomorrow," he said.
Brie and Scott Gillespie can only watch as their house on Potter Road burns to the grown.
Nothing from the home can be salvaged, including Scott's 1961 Coupe de Ville in the garage and Brie's Dodge Charger in the driveway.
"There's nothing to save at this point. It's already gone," said Capt. Jim Patty, with the Blount County Fire Protection District.
