Faith Road home destroyed by fire; cat rescued
Published 6:36 pm Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Firefighters use a pet oxygen mask on Jet, a black Himalayan cat that survived a house fire on Faith Road. on Tuesday morning. Shavonne Walker/Salisbury Post
The home of Stephanie Collins on Faith Road was destroyed by fire Tuesday morning. Shavonne Walker/Salisbury Post
SALISBURY — A Salisbury family lost everything in a Tuesday morning fire at a Faith Road home and nearly lost their pet cat.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials believe a heat lamp used for the family dog is to blame.
Stephanie Collins, a dental hygienist, lives at the home at 2675 Faith Road. Her son called her to tell her the house was on fire, and she at first thought he was joking. But she realized it wasn’t a joke and asked if he had called 911. He said he had.
Her son, who is in college, had traveled late the night before to get home and slept in Tuesday morning. He awoke to a popping sound and discovered the house was on fire, according to authorities.
Firefighters stretched about 2,000 feet of hose from the road up the long driveway to the house.
The initial call came in just after 10 a.m. Firefighters remained on the scene for hours putting out hot spots to make sure the fire was extinguished.
Collins’ son got the families two dogs out and one cat, but he couldn’t find a black Himalayan cat named Jet.
Jet was later rescued by firefighters and required oxygen. Fire personnel used the pet oxygen masks from South Salisbury Fire Department, then gave the cat water and checked its heart.
Collins said she could see smoke as she got closer to her house. She thought about the pets and then about her children’s keepsakes and other mementos inside the house that she figured were destroyed.
“I was just praying, thinking thank God my son was out,” she said.
Her son had had about three hours of sleep. They had stayed up late the night before catching up.
Collins bought the house in March 2010. She along with her family and friends have been renovating the house for the past five years. The bathrooms were the only rooms that had not been renovated.
Firefighters from multiple departments responded to the fire, including South Salisbury, Bostian Heights, Granite Quarry, Salisbury City, Faith, Locke and China Grove as well as the Rowan County Rescue Squad, Rowan Fire Marshal’s Office, and the Hanford Dole Chapter of the American Red Cross.
Contact reporter Shavonne Walker at 704-797-4253.
