Man loses his life, a family loses its home all in the same hour

Man drowns attempting to swim across Cove Lake

CAMPBELL COUNTY, TN (WLAF)- The call of a man in distress on Cove Lake came in to Central Dispatch at 11:45 Saturday morning followed by fire calls, a car fire at Exit 141 off I-75 at 12:05pm and smoke spotted in the Murrayville community at 12:11pm.

“You can’t swim long in cold water, and Norris Lake is a cold water lake,” said Don McGuire with the La Follette Rescue Squad. Late Saturday morning, a man attempted to swim Cove Lake from near the east bridge to the point. He didn’t make it across.

Members of the La Follette Rescue Squad had the man out of the water within about 28 minutes of receiving the call that he’d gone under the water, according to McGuire. “It probably took 10 minutes max to locate him with side scan sonar from the boat. We pulled him out, started CPR and continued CPR all the way to the La Follette Medical Center,” said McGuire.

“We followed cold water protocol meaning that if we can get to a patient within the sixty-minute window, we attempt resuscitation,” said McGuire.

Along with the LRS, Campbell County Sheriff’s Deputies and EMS plus rangers with the Cove Lake Park Service responded.

FIRES

The Caryville Volunteer Fire Department answered a fire call at Exit 141 off I-75. The fire was extinguished, and there were no injuries from the 12:05pm incident.

Someone seeing smoke in the Murrayville community called Central Dispatch at 12:11pm Saturday. One report to WLAF indicated that the fire had a good start ahead of the call for help. Upon arrival, firefighters with the Campbell County Rural Fire Service found a house that was burning, and the fire was almost out, according to one official. The home in the 3900 block of Murrayville Road, almost to the lake, the end of the road, sits a good distance from the road.

No one was at home at the time of the fire. There were no injuries. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-11/16/2024-2:30PM)