Late night house fire under investigation

Published 1:23 am Thursday, November 13, 2014

The cause of a house fire late Wednesday evening is still under investigation, according to Salisbury Fire Department Battalion Chief David Morris.

Fire crews responded to a structure fire in a single-story dwelling in the 1300 block of Standish Street in Salisbury Wednesday night around 10:26 p.m. The initial call reported that the homeowner might be trapped inside.

Crews were able to “knock the fire down fairly quick” – within three to five minutes of arrival, Morris said.

Although they were unable to initially contact the home owner, Morris said that primary and secondary search crews were unable to locate any persons inside the home.

“It does not appear that there were any injuries,” he said.

The fire started in the front room of the home. Morris estimated that 30 percent of the structure sustained some sort of fire, water or smoke damage.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and arson has not been ruled out.

Initial crews said they found several points of origin for the fire, which means Salisbury Fire Department will “treat it as a suspicious fire,” Morris said.

“But that doesn’t mean it’s a suspicious fire,” he pointed out, adding that fiery debris could cause additional points of origin for the blaze.

Salisbury, Granite Quarry and Spencer fire departments responded, in addition to Rowan Rescue and Salisbury Police Department.