Seeing smoke coming from the windows of this Fayetteville Street residence, a driver called E911. Luckily the fire was put out before there was any major damage.
Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton stands on the porch of a home on Fayetteville Street where a heating unit caught fire late Wednesday morning.
A motorist driving down Fayetteville Street late Wednesday morning saved a house from burning to the ground.
The unidentified caller notified emergency services that smoke was seen coming from 403 Fayetteville St., between N. Chestnut and Finch streets, and firefighters immediately responded, catching the blaze before it got out of control.
A heating unit in the home caught fire, resulting in smoke billowing from the residence, fire officials said. That’s when a motorist driving by the residence noticed the smoke and called 911.
“If she (the caller) hadn’t seen it, it would have been a much different story, much different,” attested Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton at the scene Wednesday.
The 400 block of Fayetteville Street was cordoned off for a couple of hours, causing traffic to back up for some time, as police and fire personnel organized diverted the growing number of cars to other areas. Those traveling into downtown Clinton were redirected onto Finch Street by Sunset Avenue Elementary School, and traffic in the westbound lane was being redirected down Williams Street.
“Luckily nobody was home, and the person coming by saw it; the house was saved from any real extensive damage, but we’re in the process of clearing smoke form the home in the upper floor, and contacting the homeowner,” noted Thornton.
Clinton, Taylors Bridge, Halls, and Herring fire departments responded to the 911 call.
Winter time is very common for residential fires due to heating units in homes.
According to the National Fire Protection Association, heating equipment is a major cause of fire in residences, being responsible for one in seven fires, and is especially more common during the winter months.
According to the Federal Emergency Management Association, almost 45 percent of all heating source fires are caused by HVAC units, with portable units causing 30 percent of fires, and fixed units, such as window heating and cooling units, making up about 25 percent of all heating source fires.
Furnaces cause, on average, nearly 50,000 since they have been recording statistics on furnace fires, and chimneys still result in almost 25,000 fires each year.