The home was a complete loss. Pictured here, smoke continues to rise from the hot ashes under the residential structure on President Lane, Wednesday afternoon.
Chuck Thompson | Sampson Independent
Officials say a chainsaw sitting on dead grass started fire
The resdiential fire, due to a chainsaw in the grass quickly ignited a home on Presdient Lane, Wednesday afternoon.
Firefighters Chris Register of Taylor’s Bridge and Rebecca Lee of Clinton soak the scene as it smolders after a fire that engulfed a mobile home on Wednesday. No one was injured from the fire.
From left, Aaron Beasleyn, Josh Ballance and Issac Kern man the line on the right flank as the house fire smolders out.
The N.C. Forest Service, N.C. State Climate Office and local Sampson County officials warn that Sampson County, along with the entire southeast region of the state is under extreme fire danger warnings into next week.
A family is safe after a fire ripped through their home Wednesday afternoon, leaving nothing but ashes in a matter of minutes.
The fire call came in at 2:39 p.m. Wednesday of a fire at 337 President Lane, Clinton.
Clinton Fire Department, along with Halls, Herring, Piney Grove, Taylor’s Bridge, Salemburg and Turkey all rushed to the scene.
It wasn’t long before the house was fully engulfed in flames, as Captain Jerrett Blackmore of the Clinton Fire Department explained on the scene, “When we arrived the whole double-wide was fully involved. Crews did a knock-down of a shed to prevent it from spreading, and focused on the double-wide. Everyone in the home is safe and accounted for.”
Officials said the fire was contained by 3 p.m. but the structure was a total loss.
The fire began when someone had been using a chainsaw placed near the home on dry dead grass, which ignited, quickly spreading to the home.
“It was an accident in nature,” explained Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton. “Squad 21 arrived first, pulled three lines off to protect exposure. The home was fully involved, so our main priority was to protect other structures nearby.
“A search was done of the house, all three lines were put in operation from engine 22 and squad 21,” added Thornton. “The main purpose was to keep other houses from catching on fire.”
Thornton further noted that the power wasn’t turned on yet to the home. The owner was staying with relatives next door, waiting for the electricity to be turned on to the residence.
By 4 p.m. the scene was winding down, and the area was secure, as fire crews continued to hose the remnants of the home to cool off any hot spots.
High risk of fire danger
The severity of the incident caused by a chainsaw placed in the yard reflects the seriousness of the high risk of fire Sampson County currently faces. The N.C. Forest Service is predicting a very high fire danger through the weekend. In an important notice on the Sampson County website, it is stated, “On Monday and Tuesday next week, Sampson County will have an extreme danger risk. Please refrain from burning outdoors until this danger subsides.”
Rick Sauer, Emergency Services director, said the fire on Wednesday from a hot chainsaw on dry grass was an unfortunate perfect example of what happens during a dry period, even this time of the year.
“That’s how simple and easy it is to start a grass fire that can get out of control. Yes, it’s still winter, but the high fire danger has been announced, so we encourage people not to burn anything to avoid spot fires due to embers in gusts of wind.”
Corey Davis, assistant state climatologist at the N.C. State Climate Office stressed the severity of the alert to not burn anything across the entire southeastern region of North Carolina for the time being, until the extreme conditions are lifted.
“The forecast (for fire) is in the very high range. For Saturday, it will stay in that high range, then beginning on Sunday, and lasting through March 4, it is expected to be extreme fire danger.”
Davis noted how people might not understand the seriousness of the burn ban, due to the time of year, but insists on treating the next week as if it were a dry summer period.
“Technically this is still winter, so people don’t think of fire danger being a concern at the moment, especially with the recent freeze, so it definitely still fells like winter, but if you look beyond those events we have not had a lot of precipitation and that’s why it is a serious concern.”
Davis explained that after next week, the severity for fire will subside, but as for now, it is best to wait before burning debris in order to avoid any wind gusts from creating spot fires across the county.
“High temps are well above normal this time of the year and we are getting this dry air over the next few days with some windy gust,” Davis continued. “One thing to be cautious about is people want to burn debris and this is not the time to do it with these winds gusts, and this is not the best time to burn anything or build campfires. At this point (of the year) we have only had three quarters of our average rainfall.”
Clinton Fire Chief Hagan Thornton also stressed the importance to abide by requests to not burn during this dry spell, but offers helpful tips to prevent any issues when burning debris or building campfires.
“We caution everyone to pay attention to weather conditions, regardless of the season, and to be cautious when burning outside,” Hagan explained. “If possible, have a water hose nearby to help ensure the burn piles stay contained.”
Hagan also stressed the importance of burning legally, by obtaining a burn permit from the North Carolina Forest Service, which can be found at https://apps.ncagr.gov/burnpermits/.