Staff report
An electric heater may have started a fire Tuesday afternoon that burned a bedroom and its contents at 308 Hurst Drive.
South Salisbury Fire Chief Cory Orbison said a neighbor called 911 around 2:30 p.m. after seeing smoke coming from the back of the house. Firefighters arriving at the house found the fire in a back bedroom upstairs, he said.
At one point, firefighters had to tear out part of the ceiling downstairs when flames got in between the ceiling and upstairs floor, Orbison said.
They contained the fire damage to the bedroom. Heat damaged the rest of the upstairs and water caused damage in two rooms downstairs, he said.
Orbison said firefighters had the blaze under control within about 30 minutes and stayed on the scene until around 4:30 p.m. to make sure the fire was out and track down the owner of the home, who was not at the house when the fire occurred.
He identified the owner as Boi Le.
Orbison said fire officials suspect an electric heater caused the fire, but hadn’t confirmed that Tuesday night.
He did not have a monetary estimate of the damage.
Restaurant fire
Fire officials had not determined Tuesday the cause of a Monday night fire at a local restaurant.
A sign attached to the side of Lone Star Steakhouse & Saloon, at 115 Faith Road, caught fire and the flames spread to a portion of the building late Monday.
A Salisbury firefighter said the fire was contained quickly and to the general area near the sign. The facade suffered minor damage.
The building, which was occupied at the time, had to be evacuated.