Jacksonville Firefighters respond to 3 weekend fires

By Faith Harper in The Jacksonville Daily Progress
The Jacksonville Fire Department responded to three house fires over the weekend in the city and county. Captain Ted Hunt, with the Jacksonville Fire Department, said they responded to a fire at 11:45 p.m. Saturday at 807 Sunset St. in the city limits.
He said the home was not a total loss but has significant damage. “It burned the roof, most of the attic and it has severe water damage to the rest of the residence,” Hunt said.

Hunt said the department remained on scene until around 4 a.m. “We had a lot of debris to remove in the roof area due to the roof collapsing,” Hunt said. “It trapped spots that had fire in them. We had to dig the fire out the fire.” Hunt said the cause of this fire is still under investigation.

Earle’s Chapel, North Cherokee and Jacksonville Fire Departments responded to a fire on Sunday around 12:22 p.m. at 2596 U.S. Highway 79 West. The home was between Earle’s Chapel and Ironton.

Hunt said the home was a total loss. “The whole house was totally engulfed,” he said. “There wasn’t an area to pinpoint. When we pulled up, a point of origin was not obvious.”

Earle’s Chapel Firefighter Josh Jenkins said the cause of the fire is under investigation, but officials believe the start was electrical.

Jacksonville Fire Department responded to a fire behind a home at 1506 College Ave. around 5:09 p.m. Sunday. “It was a workshop behind a house,” Hunt said. “It was pretty good-sized structure. It’s still standing, but all the contents are destroyed.”

Hunt said he believes this fire was caused by combustibles lying too close to a fire place inside the workshop. “It’s a chimney fireplace, and they had been burning some limbs inside that fireplace,” he said. “They had a bunch of plywood and stuff that was stored close it.”