Fire destroys vacant house
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on February 28, 2017 9:08 AM
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
The Goldsboro Fire Department responds to a fire at a vacant house at 438 E. Elm St. just after 8 p.m. Monday.Firefighters worked for several hours to extinguish the fire.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Goldsboro Fire Department responds to a working structure fire in a vacant house at 438 E. Elm St. just after 8 p.m. Monday. Firefighters worked for several hours to extinguish the fire.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
A firefighter has his oxygen tank switched out while the Goldsboro Fire Department responds to a blaze in a vacant house at 438 E. Elm St.
A fire destroyed most of a vacant home on East Elm Street Monday night and blocked off the road for around two hours.
The cause of the blaze remains undetermined, said Assistant Goldsboro Chief Eric Lancaster.
Goldsboro firefighters responded to a structure fire call at 8:01 p.m. and arrived at 438 E. Elm St. to find flames rolling out of a back window of the house, Lancaster said.
The fire spread to the attic after it caught one of the eaves while rolling out of the back window, Lancaster said.
Lancaster added firefighters knocked down the fire in the room where the blaze began, then attacked the flames burning through the attic.
Officers with the Goldsboro Police Department closed off East Elm Street at Isler Street and Slocumb Street while firefighters worked the scene.
The home belongs to Emmett Jackson Jr., who lives next door.
Jackson said he grew up in the home with five siblings and his grandmother.
He said he was in the process of renovating the home for his son, Montee Boddie, and was last inside the home two days ago.
Jackson said he remembers working on the home with his father growing up when they turned the back patio into a den and moved the bathroom from one side of the home to the other. They installed hot and cold water at the time, also, he said.
The only renovations that remained before passing it along to his son was to install kitchen cabinets and several other things before turning on the utilities.
Lancaster said after Monday night's fire, the home is a total loss.
There was no power running to the home at the time of the fire, either, Lancaster said.
Firefighters cleared the scene shortly after 10 p.m.
Lancaster added that the investigation into the fire has been turned over to the police department.