Nearly 90-year-old couple survives for days at home without power using fireplace for warmth
By Robb Coles
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NASHVILLE (WTVF) — An 88-year-old Green Hills couple has been surviving without power for days, relying on their fireplace for the first time in three decades after ice storms left thousands across Middle Tennessee in the dark.
Dick and Jane Baxter, who have lived in their Green Hills home for about 48 years, found themselves using their long-neglected fireplace as a lifeline when the power went out Sunday.
“We started the fire for the first time in like 30 years, we’d never used the fireplace,” said Beth Baxter, Dick and Jane’s daughter who came to stay with them when the power went out.
The couple initially tried to leave for a hotel Sunday afternoon but quickly turned back. “We tried to drive to a hotel on Sunday afternoon around two, and it was like a war zone going down Hillsborough and Harding Place,” said Beth Baxter.
So they decided to brave it out in their family room, though they underestimated the challenge ahead.
“I think we underestimated what we were in for. We thought, we’ve got a fireplace, we can just go through the night, and we’ll be up tomorrow and get the power back on. It didn’t work that way,” Jane Baxter said.
Dick had a generator, but it wouldn’t transfer any power.
As temperatures dropped, they remembered old firewood in their backyard that had been sitting there for 15 years.
That became their heat and light during cold, dark nights.
Despite the uncomfortable conditions, the Baxters have maintained their spirits.
“It has been uncomfortable, unpleasant at times, but not impossible,” Dick Baxter said.
They’re looking forward to basic comforts like shower returning.
“We smell like smoke, I have a very interesting cologne now,” Dick Baxter said.
After Jane and Beth finally were able to get a hotel room Tuesday night, the three are planning to stay with friends until power is restored.
This story was reported on-air by Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. WTVF verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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