A Dobson Drive woman was indicted this week by the Greene County Grand Jury for reckless endangerment and reckless burning because of an incident in November of 2023 where a fire spread to another property.
On November 16, 2023 Nicole Cofer allegedly engaged in reckless behavior and placed others in danger by starting a fire in drought conditions. The fire caused an evacuation of students at Mosheim Elementary and West Greene Middle School.
Cofer reportedly started burning a fire on her land/personal property and allowed the fire to escape. The Town of Mosheim, Mosheim, and Midway Volunteer Fire Departments were dispatched just after 1PM because the fire spread from a field off West School Street. The fire then began to burn into a wooded area between those houses and the schools.
Extremely dry conditions and afternoon winds helped drive the fire in the direction of the school. Students were evacuated to Mosheim Central United Methodist Church while volunteers worked to contain the fire. A bulldozer from the Tennessee Division of Forestry was brought in and scraped all brush, leaves, and dry vegetation around the fire to contain it.
Once the fire was fully contained and most hot spots were extinguished, the students were brought back to school, which dismissed early. There was a ban on outdoor burning at the time of the incident.
