Couple credits Silver Valley Fire Department, passers-by with saving home

Published: Friday, March 9, 2012 at 2:32 p.m. Last Modified: Friday, March 9, 2012 at 2:32 p.m.

A couple is crediting the Silver Valley Volunteer Fire Department and passers-by with saving their home after a building behind it caught on fire Thursday night.

At 7:51 p.m., firefighters with the Silver Valley Volunteer Fire Department were dispatched to 2128 Old N.C. Highway 109 near Jolly Road in regard to a house fire. They arrived to find the building fully involved and a sunroom attached to the rear of the home on fire, said Chris Hedrick, chief of the Silver Valley Volunteer Fire Department.

Once firefighters arrived, the fire was contained in eight minutes, Hedrick said.

Hedrick said the fire department prevented the fire from penetrating the one-story wood-frame house. However, smoke and heat damage caused fire officials to deem the house unlivable, and the power was disconnected.

The building and the sunroom attached to the home were completely destroyed, the chief said. Two vehicles located in a carport near the building also received damage, and about one-half of an acre of woods on the property caught on fire.

Hedrick said the house could be repaired. He said the fire originated in the building that was only four or five feet from the home. Hedrick said the fire marshal has ruled the cause of the fire as undetermined.

Lynda and "Crow" Nichols were inside the home when the fire occurred, Hedrick said. He said the husband was asleep, and Lynda was working on the computer. The Nichols escaped injury.

"They saved the house," Lynda said Friday afternoon. "That's the bottom line."

She also didn't know the exact cause of the fire. Lynda said, in addition to the fire department, about 15 to 20 passers-by stopped at the home to assist with trying to put out the fire

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Couple credits Silver Valley Fire Department, passers-by with saving home