Dudley fire caused by electric overload
By Nick Hiltunen
Published in News on March 18, 2010 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/BOBBY WILLIAMS
A firefighter from Arrington Fire Department sprays water into a mobile home at 100 Van Dyke Lane in Dudley where a pickup truck was destroyed along with the home.
DUDLEY -- A heavy electric load on a standard wall socket in a mobile home caused an electrical short and fire that completely destroyed the home and a truck next to it on Wednesday afternoon.
Assistant Dudley Volunteer Fire Chief Don Garner said 100 Van Dyke Lane was "fully involved" in fire when firefighters arrived.
No one was injured, and resident Levi Magnolia Gonzalez and a female whose name was not recorded escaped to a neighbor's house and made the emergency call from there around 2:50 p.m., Garner said.
"The home was a total loss, and they also had a vehicle, a Ford F-150 parked right next to the home, and it's also a total loss," Garner said.
A number of electricity-hungry items, including a guitar amplifier and space heater were plugged into a wall receptacle.
An electrical short from that setup caused the fire, Garner said.
Damage to the home and its contents was estimated at about $10,000, and the Ford truck was worth about $17,000, he said.
Assistant Dudley Chief Chris Pearsall added that the Red Cross responded to assist the family, who did have some form of insurance on the home.
Firefighters from departments at Thouroughfare and Mount Olive also responded to the scene.