Fire damaged a spare bedroom in a Salisbury home Thursday.
Quentin Woodward Jr., 66, said he was ironing in the bedroom when he left for a few minutes. When he returned, he saw smoke and then flames.
A neighbor called 911 about 12:30 p.m., while Woodward said he tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher and then a garden hose. He fled when the fire got too big.
He said the fire started around the iron on the ironing board and the nearby clothing.
Standing in his pajamas looking at the damaged house at 1017 Locke St., Woodward hoped the damage had been isolated to the bedroom, or at least the top story of the two-bedroom home. He was hoping to recover some clothing from the basement and he was waiting for help from the American Red Cross and his insurance company. He also has family in Rowan and Cabarrus counties.
Woodward lives alone.

He figures the iron was about 15 years old. He’s had it since before he returned to Salisbury about a decade ago to look after his mother, who had cancer.
He grew up in a house just around the corner, on Wilson Road, but he left Salisbury to attend North Carolina Central University in Durham before pursuing a 21-year career in the corrections systems at the state and federal levels.
He was ironing the clothing to get ready for an NAACP scholarship luncheon on Saturday, and for Monday’s meeting of the Rowan County Board of Commissioners. Woodward serves on the board of trustees for Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and he hopes to be reappointed by commissioners.
“Life can sometimes cause you problems. You just have to deal with them,” he said.