AUTRYVILLE, N.C. -- Firefighters from nine departments spent eight hours Wednesday battling a fire that destroyed a two-story Sampson County farm house that dated back to the late 1800s.
The house at 937 Maxwell Road belonged to Michael L. and Patricia Bryant, according to county tax records.
The Bryants were remodeling the house, which they bought in 2002, said Assistant Fire Marshal Prentice Madgar.
"They were pretty much done with (it)," Madgar said. "They had just finished painting the upstairs."
The Bryants weren't home when the fire started Wednesday morning.
The first report came about 9:15 a.m. from a passerby who stopped at the Clement Volunteer Fire Department, about 2 1/2miles away, and reported that heavy black smoke was pouring from the house, said Chief Art Matthews.
Moments later, he said, firefighters were dispatched to the house, which sits back from the road behind trees and bushes. It was engulfed in flames when they arrived.
"When we got here, the whole back (of the house) was on fire, and flames were shooting above the trees."
By the time firefighters arrived, Madgar said, part of the second floor toward the front of the house had collapsed.
"Access to the second floor was possible only with ladders," he said. "There was some collapse in it before we went in, which hampered putting it out."
It took about 1 1/2hours to get the flames knocked down, Madgar said, and about three to bring the fire under control.
"It was a hard fire to put out, partly because of the age," Matthews said.
It was built with 12-foot timbers for floors and the wood was treated with turpentine, which fueled the flames, Matthews said.
The house is believed to have been built about 1890, Madgar said.
It was about 1900 when an addition was built at the rear of the house, which is where the fire is believed to have started, Madgar said.
From the road, the house looks as if it might have had only minor damage.
But the back of the house was destroyed, leaving nothing but charred wood and melted vinyl siding that had been installed in recent years.
Half-burned items, including clothing and mattresses, were visible.
Firefighters were hampered by the hot, muggy weather, as well, Matthews said.
"It was so hot that after five or 10 minutes, you were just out of energy," he said.
Without the assistance of the eight other departments, Matthews said, saving any part of the structure would have been impossible.
The assisting departments were Salemburg, Spivey's Corner, Herring, Autryville, Plain View and, from Cumberland County, Godwin-Falcon, Bethany and Stedman.
Maxwell Road was closed in that area until about 4:30 p.m. because of the number of trucks at the scene, Madgar said. Firefighters were on the scene until after 5 p.m.
The cause of the fire had not been determined Thursday, Madgar said, but it is believed to have been accidental.
The Bryants are being assisted by the Highlands Chapter of the American Red Cross, he said.
Copyright 2012 - The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
