By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
A Salisbury woman was taken to the hospital with possible burns after an East Cemetery Street fire Thursday night.
Linda Barber, of 523 E. Cemetery St., was in her home when the fire started around 9:15 p.m.
A group of young men were playing basketball near the home when one of them, Nicholas Gibson, saw smoke coming from the top the triplex. Gibson, who is a cousin of Barber, when to the front door and heard the woman coughing inside.
The door knob was hot enough to burn his hand when he grabbed it, but he got the door open.
“She was in the front room,” he said.
Gibson helped Barber out of the smoke-filled home. He said she was able to walk out on her own. Gibson did not see any visible injuries as he walked Barber to the porch of a neighbor’s home, but he said Barber had a lot of soot around her nose and mouth.
Gibson said Barber was the only person in her home at the time of the fire. It was not clear whether anyone was in the adjoining apartments, but Salisbury Fire Chief Bob Parnell said the fire was contained to Barber’s unit.
Parnell said Barber was taken by ambulance to Rowan Regional Medical Center with possible burns. The extent of her burns or any other injuries was not known Thursday night.
Agencies responding to the fire included the Salisbury, Granite Quarry and Spencer fire departments, Rowan Rescue Squad, Rowan EMS and the Salisbury Police Department.
Several fire and rescue trucks blocked the street. Floodlights on the trucks helped light the way on the darkened road for firefighters.
Several neighbors who said they’d just returned from church stood at the corner in shock.
One neighbor said Barber has not lived at the triplex very long.
The fire remained under investigation later Thursday night, Parnell said.