Sparks flew, smoke poured from a transformer line, and within minutes two homes in Old Hickory Village were on fire Sunday morning. Neighbors say they watched it happen in real time, and they believe Nashville Electric Service is to blame.
Sparks, Popping Sounds, Then Flames
Art Anderson told WSMV he woke to popping noises around 8 a.m. Sunday and stepped outside to see sparks coming from a power line near his home on Clarke Street. Soon after, he said, he saw smoke rising from the line connected to a nearby transformer — and then from his own house. His neighbor, Barbara Longobardi, said she ran outside after spotting smoke and found flames already burning at her home. Neighbors managed to knock down her fire with an extinguisher before crews arrived, she said.
According to the pair, the fires both ignited at the point where power and cable lines connected to their houses, a detail that lines up with what a firefighter reportedly told Longobardi: the blaze could have spread to additional homes had the problem traveled further down the shared cable lines. Old Hickory Village neighbors said they believed NES was responsible for what happened, per the station's report.
What NES and Fire Reports Say Happened
NES confirmed there was an issue with a neutral wire at the location, and crews responded alongside the fire department, the station reported. Fire incident reports obtained by the outlet add more detail: NES crews reportedly told firefighters that a neutral line had come into contact with another line, triggering a power surge that back-fed into the homes, overloaded communication lines and ultimately caused the fires.
Despite that, the utility said it is still investigating the cause internally and declined to answer further questions about liability for the damage. The outlet also reported that NES did not respond to questions about what might be causing repeated power outages in the neighborhood — something Anderson and Longobardi both said happens fairly regularly in Old Hickory Village.
One Claim Already Denied, Another Still Pending
Anderson filed a damage claim with NES over the harm to his home, but the utility denied it, according to the same report. Longobardi said she also filed a claim and, as of the station's reporting, had not received a response. She told the outlet she is worried about covering a $1,000 deductible out of pocket. Longobardi separately said she believes Old Hickory Village has aging electrical infrastructure and that NES should maintain and upgrade its lines as needed — a view the utility has not addressed on the record.
NES said it does have a process for investigating potential system issues and a claims process for customer concerns, though it offered no further comment on how either process applies to the Old Hickory cases. The utility advised residents not to approach or investigate any damaged electrical equipment themselves, and to call 9-1-1 immediately if they see smoking wires, sparks or other damaged equipment.
A Pattern Beyond One Nashville Block
Old Hickory Village is not the first Nashville neighborhood to report fires tied to sudden electrical trouble. WSMV reported earlier this year that at least two Nashville homes caught fire within minutes of power being restored following outages, with an electrician saying excessive-voltage surges were likely to blame and warning that older homes with screw-in breakers may be especially vulnerable.
Similar scenes have played out elsewhere. In East Hampton, Connecticut, town leaders said a malfunction may have caused a power surge that damaged wiring inside dozens of homes, with Eversource reporting 41 houses potentially impacted and at least 19 calls to 911 over smoke, according to WFSB. In Parkville, Maryland, more than 30 residents described popping noises, vibrating power lines and damaged electronics after an outage and surge, and BGE attributed the outage to a fault on an overhead line whose cause remained under investigation, per The Cool Down. And in Baltimore's Bolton Hill, a power surge affected about 15 homes, destroyed appliances and was linked by residents to a house fire, according to The Baltimore Banner.
For now, the cause of the Old Hickory Village fires remains under internal review at NES. Anderson’s claim was denied, while Longobardi had not yet received a response. NES's own guidance to customers is to treat any downed or damaged lines as dangerous, keep their distance, and report problems immediately rather than attempt to inspect equipment themselves.
