Wolf Ridge Road Residential Fire With Fatality

Update: 3/10/2025 4:00 p.m. — Mobile Fire-Rescue Department investigators were unable to articulate the ignition sequence of the fire and have no reason to believe it was intentionally set. Fire cause classification remains undetermined.

The victim, Herman James Watson, 72, was reported to have mobility issues and did not have a phone. The home contained no working smoke alarms.

Mobile Fire-Rescue Department urges all its citizens to have working smoke alarms and to test them monthly. Mobile residents can sign up on MobileFireRescue.com to get free smoke alarms. If help is needed with installation, it will be provided by MFRD. Those without access to the web can call (251) 208-5555.

Mobile Fire-Rescue Department dispatchers received calls about 7:25 p.m. from a Wolf Ridge Road neighbor and a passerby reporting a house on fire in the area. They immediately dispatched a full response for a residential fire to the location in north Mobile, Alabama, Saturday night, March 8, 2025.

Units arrived on scene to find smoke and flames visible from a single-story residence. They entered the structure to search for any victims inside and to extinguish the fire. A male was found inside with life-threatening injuries.

He was treated and transported to the hospital by MFRD, but was later pronounced dead.

Firefighters extinguished the fire, making sure all hotspots were completely out. The fire remains under investigation at this time. There were no reports of any firefighter injuries. The house was found to have no working smoke alarms.