An investigation is being conducted after a house fire on Cove Creek Road early Tuesday, May 28. Pickett County Volunteer Fire Department was dispatched at around 3 a.m. to 5599 Cove Creek Road where the home was already engulfed with flames.

The owner of the home, Bethel Hill, 88, could not be located. Firefighters continued to extinguish the fire which resulted in an explosion of a small propane tank and a pressure release on a large propane tank.

Pickett County Sheriff’s Department made contact with family to verify if it was possible Hill had been in the home at the time of the fire. Around 7 a.m., it was confirmed there was a body but it would be some time before an identification could be made.

Along with the Pickett County Sheriff’s Department, the undetermined fire is being investigated by the Tennessee Bomb and Arson Squad and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.