Firefighters from Landis, Locke, South Salisbury and China Grove responded to the former home of Erica Parsons at 218 Miller Chapel Road Wednesday morning for a kitchen fire.
An exact cause has not been determined, but a fire investigator at the scene said the homeowner, William Parsons, was doing repair work inside the house. Damage was limited to the kitchen, and the cause remains under investigation.
Fire investigator Aaron Youngblood said the fire appears to have started in a microwave located in the kitchen.
Casey and Sandy Parsons recently settled an eviction notice from William Parsons — Sandy Parsons’ father — through an out-of-court settlement.
Casey, Sandy and their children had lived at the house since April 2011. That included Erica Parsons until late 2011, the last time she was seen in Rowan County.
The Parsonses have been in the public spotlight after Erica was reported missing more than two months ago by James Parsons, the couple’s biological son. James Parsons told Rowan County Sheriff’s detectives he’d not seen his sister for nearly two years.
Casey and Sandy Parsons have said they allowed Erica, then 13, to live with her biological grandmother, a woman they knew as Irene “Nan” Goodman.
The Parsonses told reporters this week they are heading to Louisiana in hopes of getting answers to the missing teen’s whereabouts. They say they are going to New Orleans, where Erica’s biological mother, Carolyn Parsons, lives. They say Carolyn is the key to Erica’s disappearance.
Youngblood said power to the house had been turned off, but at some point was switched one while Parsons was “doing some electrical work.”
The damage was contained mainly to the kitchen, including the ceiling area and kitchen cabinetry.
“It could be accidental, but at this point it’s really hard to determine that,” Youngblood said.
No one was living in the house at the time. Sandy and Casey reportedly moved out of the home a month ago.