By Jerry Askin A 68-year-old woman dies in her burning home -- and we learn careless smoking may be to blame. Investigators recovered Brenda Franklin's body inside her Soddy Daisy home around 5:00 Tuesday morning.The fire happened on Crawley Road. We're told Franklin was in the home alone when the fire happened. But, exactly how the fire began, remains the question."I was like what's going on outside --- and when I opened the blind I saw the flames coming out from the top," says neighbor Melissa Green.Melissa Green recounts her morning, waking up --- finding her neighbor's home engulfed in flames.Her first thought, she says,"Oh my god, oh my god.. Please don't let them be home, don't let them be home." Turns out, someone was home. Once inside, firefighters found the body of 68-year old Brenda Franklin.while there's no official cause, neighbor Melissa Green says she knows what likely happened."The firemen said she was in the bed, and it was probably smoking and she was still in her room in the bed," says Green.Investigators have not told us officially what caused the fire, and say right now, they haven't ruled out arson or foul play."We're looking into everything right now. Anytime there's a human life involved, we're going to check and we're going to handle it as if it is suspicious until we can rule it all out," says Soddy Daisy police chief Phil Hamrick.We've learned one of Franklin's family members died, just days ago."I believe it was a step father, and son who lived there, step father had just passed away and I think they just laid him to rest yesterday," says Hamrick.Franklin's death, no doubt adding more difficulty for a family already in mourning.The body of Brenda Franklin is being sent to a forensic center to try to find her cause of death.Depend on us to bring you more as we find out.
