Steve Trujillo was in a hurry to get to the hospital Tuesday afternoon. The owner of Auto Glass Services cut open his hand while installing glass in Woodville and was speeding up U.S. 61 to Natchez to get stitches.

All that was forgotten when Trujillo saw the billowing smoke coming from a house on White Apple Road. With a bleeding hand, Trujillo immediately turned off the highway to see if anyone was in the house.

“I wanted to make sure no one was hurt,” Trujillo said. The glass installer immediately called 911 and then searched the property for any residents.

Fortunately no one was home. The previous owner, Bobbie Price, had recently moved from the house. According to her son, Jeffery, who was on the scene Tuesday, the house was sold last week and no one had been in the house for a couple of days.

Trujillo said that when he approached the house the fire appeared to have started near the house’s utility room. When firefighters arrived, the fire had already spread to the main part of the house.

No one was injured in the fire and the cause of the blaze in under investigation.