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Firemen go to back-to-back blazes By BARRY BURLESON
Editor  |  | Photos by Barry Burleson
Early morning fires
One unoccupied dwelling (Top) on Highway 349 South was totally destroyed while the large part of another (Above) was saved. |
Firefighters found themselves battling back-to-back blazes just three miles apart in the early morning hours Thursday. Both were unoccupied, wood-frame houses on Highway 349 South – the first fire reported at 2 a.m. and the next at 3:30 a.m. “It’s odd, having two like that back-to-back and that close together,” said David Cook, new fire chief at Potts Camp/Bethlehem. Potts Camp received mutual aid from Holly Springs, Waterford and Hickory Flat. They first responded to a house about three miles from Potts Camp. It was fully engulfed in flames when firemen arrived. “There was no way to do anything about it,” said Kenny Holbrook, fire chief at Holly Springs. “It burned to the ground.” Cook
left that scene, driving the truck back toward Bethlehem to the
station. That’s when he saw another structure on fire about three miles
south of the other one. “I wheeled in and went at it,” Cook said. “I was a one-man show for a few minutes.” Then he was quickly joined by fellow firefighters. “They
handled it well before we got there,” Holbrook said. “It was a really
good stop. The fire was pretty much contained to the two rooms – the
back porch and the utility room had the main damage. There is still a
roof over 90 percent of the house.” Tracy
Jeffries, county fire investigator, said the fires appear to be
accidental – just a coincidence – but they are under investigation. Jeffries
also said a double-wide mobile home on Hernando Road was a total loss
in a blaze about 10 p.m. Tuesday, July 6. No one was at home at the
time. Red Banks received mutual aid from Holly Springs and Victoria. The cause is undetermined and it, too, is under investigation. “The fire was coming out of the roof when I got there,” Jeffries said.
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