Firefighters save Christmas despite Mar-Mac home being lost to fire
By Steve Herring
Published in News on December 23, 2017 5:28 PM
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Firefighters work to remove wrapped Christmas presents from the home at 116 Gainey Drive where a grease fire broke out Saturday around 2 p.m.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Three adults and one child who live at the Gainey drive address were able to escape the fire safely and were trying to remove possessions when authorities arrived on scene.
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News-Argus/STEVE HERRING
Mar-Mac, Grantham, Thoroughfare and Dudley firefighters and Wayne County EMS respond to a structure fire at 116 Gainey Drive Saturday. all four residents made it out of the home safely, Mar-Mac Fire Chief Tommy Baker said.
Smoke poured out as firefighters inside shot a stream of water through an upstairs window of the house at 116 Gainey Drive, just east of Sandhill Drive in the Mar-Mac community Saturday afternoon.
Mar-Mac, Grantham, Thoroughfare and Dudley fire departments responded to the alarm after 2 p.m., as did Wayne County EMS.
Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy D.K. Edwards said that when he arrived, the family was attempting to remove items from the house. They were told they needed to back away for their own safety.
Three adults and a small child who live at the address each made it out unharmed.
Within two hours, the crews had the fire knocked down but were still working inside to extinguish potential hot spots ---- areas left smoldering with a potential for rekindling.
"We are just trying to get the homeowners some assistance, make sure that we have all of the hot spots out, do some salvage and overall and try to recover whatever of their belongings that we can," Mar-Mac Fire Chief Tommy Baker said. Firefighters were still working inside the home to make sure the fire was out and anything that could be salvaged was.
"As soon as we get that out of the way, we will start worrying about how it started. We have Red Cross en route for the family.
Baker later said a grease fire was to blame for the blaze, although he did not yet have a damage estimate.
Neighbors gathered in their yards and down the street to watch as firefighters removed wrapped Christmas presents from the house, placing them next to a TV that had already been brought out. One witness said that at one point when he looked down the street, it appeared that flames were almost reaching the street.
The Wayne County chapter of the American Red Cross was contacted to help the family, and within an hour a list of clothing items and sizes was already being distributed.
Baker said the property manager for the agency that owns the home told him they might have an available house that the family may be able to stay in temporarily.
Smoke was still coming out of an upstairs window when Duke Energy workers arrived to cut power to the house.