KANNAPOLIS, N.C. --
A Kannapolis firefighter watched as firefighters doused the flames to his home on Hyde Street Saturday morning.
Joey Childress said he was in Mooresville when he got a call from firefighters telling him his house was on fire.
He rushed home to see his house surrounded by fire trucks. Childress said the fire started in the back of the house near the water heater.
"What happened is the plate on the hot water heater blew out and caught some wood and clothes on fire, which sent through the house," Childress said.
Childress and his family are getting help from the Red Cross and staying at a nearby motel.
One Kannapolis firefighter went to the hospital and was treated for heat-related injuries.
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