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PATTERSON -- A man escaped injury early Friday morning when fire destroyed his home and a nearby vehicle in Caldwell County, authorities say.
The fire marshal’s office says Justin Miles Adams, who lives in the 2500 block of Setzers Creek Road in the Patterson community, awakened about 4 a.m. and saw flames in the walls and ceiling near his wood stove. Officials say the stove was in a redesigned fireplace.
Adams told investigators he tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire before escaping through a rear window in the house and calling 911 from a neighbor’s residence.
Officials say the blaze destroyed the one-story wood-frame house and a nearby SUV.
Robbie Wilkie, the county’s fire marshal/emergency management coordinator, said the blaze started in the chimney, and he said the chimney did not have a flue liner.
“Particularly in older homes, chimneys were built of brick and mortar, with no flue liner,” Wilkie said. “Over time, the mortar can crack from heating and cooling, residue will build up, and flames can escape through those cracks.”
He said the flames can ignite combustible materials like wood.
Crews from the Patterson, Valmead and Yadkin Valley fire departments battled the blaze.
It was the second time in three days that a blaze that started in or near a wood stove destroyed a home in Caldwell County. A mother and her two children suffered smoke inhalation in a fire at their residence early Wednesday in the Oak Hill community east of Lenoir.
