ROCKINGHAM — No one was home when a fire gutted a Rogosin Street residence late Sunday night in East Rockingham.
In fact, the home was reportedly vacant.
Bill Bayless, deputy chief of the East Rockingham Fire Department, said neighbors told him the last people to live in the white modular home moved out about a week ago.
The road was blocked beside Mill Road Grocery by a fire truck and Richmond County Sheriff’s Office patrol cars as firefighters extinguished the blaze, with heavy smoke billowing from the massive, burned-out hole in the center of the roof.
The sheriff’s office is investigating the cause of the fire.
WINTER SAFETY
As the temperature slowly drops and with Christmas around the corner, local fire departments are urging residents to use caution with heaters and decorations this holiday season.
Early Sunday morning, the Rockingham Fire Department responded to an incident where someone had left a towel on a space heater, according to Lt. Michael Mabe. He said the towel was smoldering but the heater was taken outside before anything caught fire.
Space heaters left on too long can overheat and catch fire to something nearby.
Mabe said any flammable items should be kept a safe distance away from any heat source.
Those with fireplaces or wood stoves should check their chimneys.
“Make sure there are no birds’ nests and make sure they’ve been properly cleaned from the creosote over the years,” he said.
Creosote is a combustible residue made up of a variety of substances released from burning wood that builds up inside the chimney.
Mabe said that sometimes creosote can flake off and block the flue in the middle of the night “and smoke the house up.”
The creosote can also ignite and cause a chimney fire.
“At least once a year, chimneys need to be cleaned by somebody who knows what they’re doing or a professional,” he said.
It’s also important to watch what you burn, he said, and make sure there are no pieces of burning material sticking out.
Several years ago, a man used a railroad tie in his fireplace, which caught his carpet on fire, Mabe said.
Decorating can also be a source of fire hazards.
Although there are flame retardants for live trees, Mabe said artificial trees are generally safer.
“With an ignition source (lights, candle, space heater), a live tree can burn up pretty quickly,” he said.
Mabe said it’s important to make sure extension cords are rated for what they’re being used for, and, although tree lights can be plugged in end-to-end, “there’s a limit.”
He said it’s also a good time to check the batteries on smoke detectors and those with gas or wood-burning heat sources should also have carbon monoxide detectors.
When putting up decorations outside the house, Mabe said house numbers should not be blocked, adding some people tend to hang wreaths over the numbers.
Make sure we can see (the number) from the road,” he said. “The quicker and easier we can see them, the quicker we can get to the problem.”
Reach reporter William R. Toler at 910-817-2675 and follow him on Twitter @William_r_Toler.