By Kathy Chaffin
Salisbury Post
A barn on Hawkridge Lane was destroyed Monday in an early afternoon fire.
The fire in Bryon “Ken” Correll’s barn was reported to Rowan 911 Communications at 1:18 p.m., according to Steve Osborne, assistant chief of the Bostian Heights Fire Department.The fire was under control within 30 minutes. Afterward, Osborne said Atwell firefighter Timmy Beaver bulldozed the remains of the 30-by-30 wooden barn so it would be safe for firefighters to go inside and put out the hot spots.
Deborah Horne, fire inspector/investigator for Rowan County, said, “When you have a fire of that magnitude with hay involved, the hay is just going to continue to smolder. You have to spread it out to be able to effectively extinguish it.”
Osborne said the horses were in a corral outside the barn when firefighters arrived.
The cause of the fire is being investigated by the Rowan County Fire Marshal’s Office.
The Bostian Heights department was assisted in fighting the fire by South Salisbury, China Grove, Rockwell Rural, Faith and Granite Quarry. Rowan Rescue also responded to the scene.
Though Rowan firefighters are grieving the tragic deaths of Justin Monroe and Victor Isler of the Salisbury department, Osborne said it felt good to be back on a hose line Monday. “It started the healing process,” he said.
Firefighters were able to put out the barn fire in time to participate in the Monday afternoon procession to bring the fallen firefighters home from the medical examiner’s office in Charlotte.
Osborne said Bostian Heights stationed an engine on the N.C. 152 overpass over Interstate 85. “It was just amazing the citizens that were out there who weren’t even firefighters,” he said.
Bostian Heights also had a tanker on Lentz Road. “All the other departments had the rest of them covered,” he said.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249 or kchaffin @salisburypost.com.