By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
SPENCER ó Fire seriously damaged a house in Spencer’s Historic District Monday night.
The fire at 412 S. Iredell Ave. took firefighters a couple of hours to control and blazed openly for a considerable amount of time. It was reported about 8 p.m.
Firefighters said the fire started in the basement, then spread through the walls to the attic. Flames shot from a basement window in the early going. Later, black smoke billowed from the eaves.
“We fought the fire for an hour, then pulled everybody out and went to a defensive position,” said Spencer Fire Chief Jay Baker.
He said the fire was a three alarm one, representing a relatively rare call for extra help. The units were needed, Baker said, for backup because of the fire’s duration.
Baker said the blaze was made worse because the house was built using “balloon construction,” which means there are no fire breaks between floors. He said such construction was common in older houses.
Baker said 70 percent of the house was damaged by either flames, smoke or water.
About midnight Monday, Baker said investigators are “leaning toward” deciding that the fire was accidental in origin. He said an investigation would continue today.
Russell Walker said he lived in the house with his mother, three brothers and a sister. The house is owned by his mother, Sheena Hasty.
Walker said there was no one at home at the time of the fire. He said his mother had left just a few minutes before the fire to go to the YMCA for a workout.
Walker said family members had noticed electrical problems in the house in recent days, with the lights in some rooms not working. He said an electrician was supposed to come one day this week to remedy the problem.
Walker said his family had been working to renovate the property.
“My mom put a lot of money into this house,” he said.
Walker said the property was insured.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.