Passers-by save family from fire

Photo Courtesy Locke Fire Dept.

By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

Officials say Good Samaritans got nine people out of a burning house Friday night in a development off Roseman Road.

The passers-by called 911 and beat on the door for a couple of minutes before waking the residents, who escaped as the fire spread into the living room.

Five small dogs also got out, and firefighters saved five more a few minutes later.

Jimmy and Deborah Dixon — who are both hearing impaired — and their extended family had gone to bed and were apparently sound asleep in their home at 333 Spring Oak Drive.

Adam Morris and a friend, Antonio Parker, were going to visit a cousin in the development. Morris had called ahead and the cousin told him she was headed for the shower.

"We decided to ride around the loop," Morris said. "We saw a house that looked like it had really, really bright lights."

When they got near the house, they realized the lights were flames.

They pulled over. As Morris called 911, Parker went to the house and started ringing the door bell and beating on the door.

"I watched him bang and bang. Finally they came running out," Morris said. He started helping the residents get across the street as the flames from the house got higher. "The cars had caught fire and were burning. I was worried about getting them away from the house."

Another passer-by, Eric Gillman, stopped and also helped the family to safety.

"They probably saved the lives of nine people and 10 dogs," Deborah Horne, investigator with the Rowan Fire Marshal's Office, said Tuesday. "It could have been very bad."

Horne also praised the quick work of the Locke, China Grove, Bostian Heights and Landis fire departments and the Rowan County Rescue Squad.

Firefighters quickly knocked the blaze down, containing it at one end of the house.

They also rescued five more dogs shut in a bedroom. Rescue Squad personnel gave the small dogs and puppies oxygen to help offset any smoke they inhaled.

Rusty Alexander, Locke chief, said the fire started in the garage/carport area and moved into the living room and kitchen. Smoke detectors apparently were not working.

Firefighters had to contend with the cars burning and their ruptured fuel tanks, with burning gas running toward nearby woods and a house.

"Firefighters did a good job, they kept if from spreading," Alexander said.

"They did a fantastic job," Horne said. "They saved most of the contents."

Representatives of the Hanford Dole chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the scene and put the family up for two nights at a hotel.

While fire officials praised the passers-by for saving the family, Morris said he's no hero.

"The real heroes are the ones who went in there and put out the fire," he said.

He credited his Eagle Scout training from his teenage years in Troop 315 at Grace Lutheran Church. As an Eagle Scout, he was prepared.

Morris knew Jimmy Dixon from years ago when they both worked at Captain's Galley and knew that he was hearing impaired.

Horne said both Jimmy and his wife have significant hearing impairment. She hopes to provide them with vibrating smoke detectors when they get resettled.

Due to the economy, the single-story, ranch-style house was serving as home to an extended family, the Dixons' two daughters and their husbands, Pamela and Adam Henry and Angela and Glenn Bissett, and their three grandchildren.

The cause of the fire hadn't been determined Monday, but Horne said it was accidental.