LENOIR
CITY, Tenn. (WATE) — Leaders of a Lenoir City church are mourning
the loss of a longtime usher who died tragically in a fuel tank
explosion.
On Saturday, the Loudon
County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about a tractor that
was on fire. According to the sheriff’s office, Timothy Smith
and his father Robert Smith were attempting to fill up their
tractor with diesel fuel. Timothy flipped a power switch to pump
the fuel, and the tank exploded, he suffered major burns and was
transported to the University of Tennessee Medical Center.
Robert was trapped inside the barn and died at the scene.
“It was very shocking. I was coming out of the
grocery store when I got the phone call from a church member who
had just heard the event happened, and I had seen a plume of
smoke just across town, very visible, from where I was in the
parking lot, but I didn’t know that’s what had happened,” said
Chris Harding, a Senior Adult Pastor at First Baptist Church in
Lenoir City.
Robert Smith was a longtime usher at the church.
“For 22 years, just faithful. Robert was a quiet
servant. He didn’t say a lot, but he did a lot. And so, every
Sunday, he would usher right at this spot where we’re at today,”
said First Baptist Church Executive Pastor Jeff Bowden. “And he
was just, always faithful. If he missed, something was wrong.”
Robert and his wife
Itha served the congregation in many ways, reliably seen in
the same pew ready to help in any way they could.
“Robert was just, a rock of dependable
guy. He is the hard-working man that you hope we would
all be, it’s such a great example. And I hope when I’m
80 years old that I’m out still working hard on the farm
like he does,” Harding added.
Robert’s church family said they are
going to miss his smiling face greeting the community
every Sunday morning.
“None of us knows when a tragedy like
that might occur for us. We never know when our last day
on earth is going to be, and Robert lived faithfully.”
Said Harding
The First Baptist Lenoir City staff says
their thoughts and prayers are with Timothy through his
recovery, as well as Itha and the rest of Roberts family.
The Loudon County Sheriff’s Office and the Loudon Fire and
Rescue crew tell us there is still an ongoing investigation
to find the exact cause of the explosion.