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Wilmington House Fire

Submitted by: FireNews.net Staff

Photos Courtesy David Reynolds/starnewsonline.com

New Hanover County

WILMINGTON - A fire seriously damaged a 19th century home at the intersection of North Seventh and Grace streets Sunday evening.

No one was injured in the fire, which led authorities to shut down several downtown blocks for more than an hour while firefighters extinguished the blaze at 224 N. Seventh St.

Rolf Thomas, 60, said he was upstairs watching television when his girlfriend came home and said the house was on fire. Both Thomas and his girlfriend Suzanne Stanley, who has lived at the home for more than 20 years, escaped unharmed.

The fire began around 5:15 p.m. and for the next hour more than a dozen onlookers watched as firefighters fought the fire.

Capt. Dean Smith, of the Wilmington Fire Department, said the fire was toward the back of the house on the right side. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire had spread to the attic, making it difficult to get to, Smith said.

Firefighters took hoses in the front door and also entered the home at the back and through second-floor windows.

The two-story wooden house is white and has green shutters.

Smoke seeped out of the area where the front wall reaches the roof. Second-floor windows also were stained from smoke.

Toward the back, firefighters put a ladder up against the home and stood on an awning that covers the porch.

A ladder truck sprayed water down on the house, and at times, flames burned through the roof.

Around 6:15 p.m., dark gray smoke filled Grace Street leading some bystanders to cover their mouths and noses with their shirts.

Smith said an investigator with WFD’s Fire and Life Safety Unit would look for the cause of the fire. Firefighters also were meeting with the residents to see what they needed. One firefighter turned his ankle during the effort, Smith said, but that was the only injury.

He also said the house had heavy smoke damage and was uninhabitable.

Stanley said she planned to stay with neighbors.

Video by David Reynolds.

Source: starnewsonline.com

Primary Agency: Wilmington Fire Department

Posted on Mon Feb 22 2010 at 15:19

Copyright 2003-2010. All rights reserved.

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