SALISBURY — Officials say a fire that gutted a Lippard Road home Friday morning started in the garage near a clothes dryer.
The cause is still under investigation, but the laundry appliance may have been to blame, said Deborah Horne with the Rowan County Fire Marshal’s Office.
“You never want to leave the clothes dryer running and leave the house,” said Horne, a fire investigator. “That’s actually in the top two causes of fires in residential homes. The first one is kitchens, and the second one is dryers.”
One firefighter was taken to the hospital after injuring his knee while battling the blaze, but there were no other injuries.
No one was home when the fire started Friday.
Investigators said Carl Wilson, who owns the house on Lippard Road outside Faith, had gone for a quick visit with his mother.
He returned to the sight of fire trucks in front of his house and a plume of smoke rising from it.
His adult son, Caleb, lives with him but had already gone to work.
The fire was called in shortly after 10 a.m., and the first responders on the scene found flames coming from the one-story brick home.
When the fire reached the attic, Horne said, it spread quickly to the roof and through the rest of the house.
Firefighters were still working to extinguish the fire at 11:30 a.m. Friday, and by that time the house was destroyed. But Horne said they were able to retrieve a number of items for the homeowner.
“The firefighters have done a tremendous job,” she said. “They were here within five minutes of the call.”
Responding to the scene were the Bostian Heights, Faith, Granite Quarry, Landis, Locke, Rockwell City, Rockwell Rural and Salisbury fire departments, Rowan County EMS, Rowan County Rescue Squad and the Rowan County Fire Marshal.
Contact reporter Karissa Minn at 704-797-4222.
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