Kitchen blaze starts while woman sleeps
By John Joyce
Published in News on February 11, 2015 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A Goldsboro firefighter enters the back door of an East New Hope Road residence Tuesday where a kitchen fire threatened to displace a family. Fire officials said the resident prevented the fire from spreading using a fire extinguisher.
A Goldsboro man might have saved his home and family Tuesday by using a fire extinguisher to douse flames that started in his kitchen, the Goldsboro Fire Department said.
No one was injured.
"The resident emptied his fire extinguisher on the stove, and that really helped. We then used a water-based extinguisher to put out the rest of it," Assistant Fire Chief James Farfour said.
The fire began about 2:10 p.m. Tuesday in a residence at 210 E. New Hope Road.
The Wayne County chapter of the American Red Cross responded due to the severity of the damage inside the home.
The rental property is owned by Richard Grey of Amblewood Drive, but is occupied by a man, woman and small child, according to the fire report.
The renters, Marcus Best, Andria McClain and the child, were all home when the fire started.
According to the report, the fire was caused by unattended cooking.
Ms. McClain started cooking and then decided to lie down, the report said.
"She fell asleep while cooking soup," Farfour said.
GFD Engine 5 was first on scene, followed by Engines 2, 3 and 4.
An "aggressive interior attack" had the fire under control and out within 10 minutes, the report said.
The resulting damage, however, was extensive.
"We had to do some pretty good overhaul to make sure there was no extension," Farfour said.
He went on to explain just what all that included.
"That means tearing down portions of the ceiling, looking into the walls to see if the fire was tracking up the stud base, which it wasn't," he said.
Farfour said the outcome could have been a lot worse if not for Best's quick action using the fire extinguisher.
Every home should have one, he said.
"An ABC fire extinguisher. A lot of times we use a water extinguisher, but we don't recommend those for homes because people might try to use that on an electrical or grease fire," he said.
An ABC-rated extinguisher is designed to be used on just about any type of fire that can break out in someone's home.
Calls for comment placed to the local Wayne County Chapter of the American Red Cross went unanswered by press time.
Vicki LaBelle, executive director of the American Red Cross of Eastern N.C., said that any assistance rendered would have come from the local emergency response team. She said the Red Cross would only be able to discuss what aid was provided if the family had signed a release.
Farfour said he believed the family was able to stay in the home, but he was not sure for how long they will be able to stay due to there only being partial electricity to the house, and to the loss of the kitchen.
"The kitchen is a pretty important part of a home," he said.