Just a week before Christmas, and another fire has caused significant damage to a family's home.
Three fire departments responded to a fire in the Oak Hill community around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday that caused heavy smoke and heat damage to the home of Everette Moore and his wife Kathy.
The fire appeared to start in the chimney area of the home, located on Woodrow Place off Fox Road, a short distance from U.S. 64/N.C. 90.
Moore was on his way to meet his partner for work, but his van overheated. While he was waiting for his partner to come pick him up, he put a few sticks of wood in his heating stove. He looked out the window and noticed embers falling from the back side of the house. When Moore went outside, he saw his chimney on fire.
It was blazing up pretty good, said Moore, who indicated that he had heated with a wood stove since he moved into the home in 1988. I tried to turn the water on and put it out, but of course it was frozen.
Temperatures were in the low 20s Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
Firefighters from Little River, Grace Chapel and Valmead responded to the scene and were able to get a handle on the flames, but not before they caused significant damage.
Moore had been doing some remodeling to the home and had a new roof put on it a month or so ago. Because of that remodeling, Little River Fire Chief Steve Brown said the fire spread into the rafter area between the roofs, and that's where firefighters concentrated most of their efforts.
When the fire extended between (the roofs), that was the hardest part to get out, Brown said. The guys did a great job handling it.
Firefighters had to shuttle water from a hydrant a quarter of a mile or so away with tanker trucks to put out the fire.
That's rural firefighting, Caldwell County Fire Marshal Robbie Wilkie said. They're accustomed to doing that.
Fire Inspector Kevin Brown said the fire was accidental in nature and that damage could have been worse if Moore and his wife had not been home to report the fire when they did.
They were lucky they were home and caught it when they did, Kevin Brown said. Way out here, it could have been a while before someone saw it, especially this time of day.
Harold Barnhardt, a nearby neighbor, saw the smoke and fire as he was on his way to Lenoir.
I saw they smoke, and it was pretty thick and black, and then I saw flames coming out of the top of the house, Barnhardt said. I thought that was not right.
Moore said he and his wife were supposed to visit with family members in Georgia over the weekend, but he's not sure what they'll do now since the fire damage will keep them out of their home for some time. He said the couple has friends they may be able to stay with, or they could stay in a camper they have on their property.
I don't now what would have happened if we hadn't been here, Moore said. This is just one of those things that happens. I just hate it happened at this time of the year. It will be acquite a shock for us this Christmas.
