An early-morning fire beneath the walkway between the hospital and the Dogwood Parking Deck destroyed five golf carts, and temporarily shut down the bridge across Manning Drive.
Fortunately, the 2:30 a.m. blaze was extinguished by Chapel Hill firefighters in about 15 minutes, and no one was hurt, according to a press release from UNC Hospitals.
But as a result, the traffic light at the intersection of Manning and Hospital Drives was not working. Drivers were cautioned to proceed as if there were a stop sign there.
Pedestrians were advised to cross an alternate bridge or use the street.
Investigators have learned that the fire was caused by a battery malfunction in one of the golf carts.
The bridge and the valet parking lot will remain closed until a cleanup of the area is completed.
WRAL News reported that hospital visitors said they heard and felt an explosion.
***Update: The traffic light is once again operational; the pedestrian bridge has been checked for structural damage and is reported to be safe for pedestrians and golf carts.
WRAL News reported that fire began when a battery in a golf cart near the valet stand malfunctioned.
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/fire-unc-hospitals-parking-deck-shuts-walking-bridge/More than 200 inmates at the Orange Correctional Center had to be relocated on Saturday after an early-morning fire that damaged the kitchen building.
According to a statement from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, a total of 216 minimum-security inmates had to be relocated. About 180 inmates in the regular population were transferred to Johnston Correctional Institution in Smithfield. Inmates in the disciplinary segregation unit were moved to other prisons across the state.
DPS reports that no one was injured in the fire, but it did leave the jail with no way to feed the inmates. Inmates will have to remain relocated until the kitchen can be repaired or rebuilt.
The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/fire-damages-orange-correctional-center/CARRBORO- Multiple Orange County fire departments battled a major house fire south west of Carrboro on Friday afternoon.
The blaze was first reported just before 5 o’clock. Crews trucked in water to the structure, located at 501 Old School Road off Jones Ferry Road.
The Red Cross has been contacted to help people displaced by the fire, which was reportedly under control as of 6 o’clock.
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/fire-fighters-battle-blaze-near-carrboro/
CHAPEL HILL – A structure fire Tuesday evening caused thousands of dollars of damage in a two-story home at 219 Stagecoach Road.
The Chapel Hill Fire Department responded to a call shortly before 8:00 p.m., finding smoke in the crawl space of the house. Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire within six minutes and there were no injuries, but the residents have been displaced from the home and the damage is estimated to be $5,000.
The Fire Marshal says the blaze was accidental, but hasn’t released a cause of origin. Still, fire officials are taking the opportunity to remind people to keep anything flammable at least three feet away from any heating equipment, including furnaces, fireplaces, wood stoves and space heaters.
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/tuesday-fire-causes-thousands-damage/CHAPEL HILL – With the holiday season upon us again, the Chapel Hill Fire Department begins their “Keep the Wreath Green” campaign to prevent residential fires.
During the “Keep the Wreath Green” campaign, the Chapel Hill Fire Department will display and illuminated wreath on the front of Fire Station No. 1 on MLK. The wreath will be lit with all green lights, but for each residential fire that occurs, a red light will be installed.
Chapel Hill Fire Department Public Information Officer, Lisa Edwards, says they hope the wreath encourages fire safety.
“Our strategy and our goal is as people drive by and they see the wreath, and all of the bulbs are green, we want to remind people to practice as much home fire safety as possible so we can keep the wreath green” Edwards says.
The Chapel Hill Fire Department releases a lot of information on how to keep your home safe from fires during the holiday season when many people use lights, candles, and fireplaces more often. Edwards says research shows December is the month for fire.
“When we pull data from the United States Fire Administration report, it shows us that most the highest incident of resident fires happen in December” Edwards states.
You can help avoid holiday fires by not overloading circuits with lights, keep trees away from open flames or a direct heating sources, and being careful when cooking holiday foods. Edwards says they hope to repeat the results from last year.
“We hit the mark last year with no residential fires during the month of December, first time ever, and so we are looking for that again this year” Edwards says.
For more information on how to prevent fires during the holiday season you can click here.
http://chapelboro.com/news/safety/keep-wreath-green-campaign-prevent-fires/CHAPEL HILL – Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and the rest of Orange County and the surrounding Triangle area has been extremely dry for the past several weeks. Passing rain showers have done little to ease the problem.
In fact, some areas of North Carolina have been so dry that wildfires have broken out like the Table Rock blaze in the Linville Gorge located in the Pisgah National Forest. It has burned over 18-hundred acres and more land is expected to be damaged before it is brought under control.
There have also been a few wildfires around our region. Matt Lawrence is the Operations Chief with the Chapel Hill Fire Department. He says conditions here are not dry enough yet to issue a red flag alert…
“We’re not to a level of dryness yet that causes the state—in our area at least—any tremendous concern,” Lawrence says. “It is fall, though; we do have a lot of dry leaves that are falling, and things generally dry out this time of year.”
Chief Lawrence reminds Chapel Hill residents that you can’t have an open fire inside the corporate limits.
“We have an open-burning ordinance which doesn’t allow any type of open burning of leaves, trash, limbs, yard debris, or anything like that,” Lawrence says.
He says that this not only is the law, but it makes sense not to burn your leaves or other yard debris.
“If we had somebody burning leaves, first of all it would be a nuisance,” Lawrence says. “We get tons of calls for that. But then also you’re putting your neighbors at risk simply because if that fire gets out of control it could spread very quickly.
Chief Lawrence also says that it is very easy for an open fire to send cinders into the air causing wildfires to occur even up to a mile away.
“It has the potential to have sparks that escape and get into dry tinder in the yard (which) could cause a fire,” Lawrence says.
http://chapelboro.com/news/safety/chfd-warns-of-fire-dangers-with-dryness/CARRBORO - The White Cross Volunteer Fire Department is expanding to better provide safety to the houses in its district.
Currently White Cross plans to renovate its current facility on Old Greensboro Rd. and build a new station on Neville Road.
White Cross Board of Directors president, Tony Blake explains the reason for the expansion.
“We’re out of space and we needed to expand our building, now, we realized that years ago and decided to take advantage of USDA funds at a very low rate” Blake commented.
Blake says White Cross plans to use U.S. Department of Agriculture loans only to renovate their current station, and will use the amount the county allots for building the new station on Neville Road.
On June 4, White Cross had a meeting with the CountyCommissioners to discuss the plans to build the new fire station and hear concerns from people in the area.
“Yes, we believe that it falls within the budget, and that was what we went to talk with the County Commissioners, and showed them our figures; but we believe that there is a good value for the residents here” Blake said.
Some people have expressed concerns over building the new fire station in a residential area. Blake says the White Cross Fire Department heard several of these concerns at the Commissioners’ meeting and responded to the people and commissioners with a letter answering many questions.
He says White Cross plans to hold a community meeting when time permits to address any additional concerns.
The location for the new building took a couple years to find, and Blake says will have positive benefits for more than 500 houses in the White Cross district.
“We looked at several parcels of lands over two years and none of them met the criteria, and so the Neville Road location was by far the best location we could find” Blake said.
One of the benefits for 500 houses in the White Cross district is a lower insurance rating. In North Carolina, houses receive insurance ratings based on how far they are from a fire station, and more than five miles away receives a much higher rate. By building the new station on Neville Road, several houses in the eastern region of their district will now be within five miles and get lower insurance rates.
The new station will hold a tanker that the fire station does not currently have and will allow for its staff to better protect the area. The current White Cross facility uses an outdoor shed to store some vehicles in winter, making it difficult to use them in an emergency. Also, after building the new facility, White Cross wants to hire two more paid staff members to assist the current single paid staff member for the station.
White Cross is always looking for volunteers to help its cause and assist in any way. Not all volunteers need to be firefighters; Blake says the station has a need for volunteers with any professional or support services like bookkeeping, electricians, plumbers, legal, and web page maintenance.
“Who ever would like to help us ad contribute, that’s what keeps the cost low and makes it work” Blake says.
For more information, you can visit the White Cross website by clicking here.
The letter that White Cross sent to the Commissioners answers questions that people asked during the meeting is also available click here to view.
http://chapelboro.com/news/development/white-cross-volunteer-fire-department-set-to-expand/ORANGE COUNTY – Orange County Fire and Emergency Services responded to a fire on Dairyland Road early Tuesday morning.
The fire was reportedly at a residence at 4905 Dairyland Road which is in rural OrangeCounty. Firefighters reportedly got water on the fire at 7:06 a.m. Four minutes later, the fire was out.
WCHL and Chapelboro will provide additional information as it becomes available.
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/residential-fire-on-dairyland-road-early-tuesday/DURHAM - A fire that began after 12 noon Monday appeared to affect all 20 units of an apartment building before firefighters could get the blaze under control.
No injuries were reported and all 40 of the building’s occupants were accounted for, according to the Durham Fire Department. In all, the fire displaced 30 residents as the building has been deemed a total loss with fire or smoke and water damage affecting all of the units.
The fire took place at the Royal Oaks Apartments on Mayfair Street near the Sam’s Club and Target on 15-501—north of the exit for Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway. The Durham fire department responded to a 12:30 p.m. call.
Seven fire trucks and 50 firefighters reported to the scene. American Red Cross Triangle Region is providing shelter, food, clothing, and other assistance to those in need. Jersey Mikes and Fire House Subs have also helped the Red Cross provide food.
Durham Fire Chief Dan Curia told the Herald Sun that this was at least the fourth major fire at the Royal Oaks Apartments in the last ten years.
The cause of the fire is being investigated, but it apparently started in the rear bedroom of apartment 106.
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/fire-destroys-royal-oaks-apartment-building-in-durham/CHAPEL HILL – A sprinkler system in a Chapel Hill home likely saved multiple homes Saturday when a fire broke out while the homeowners were away.
The Chapel Hill Fire Department responded to 108 Vintage Drive just after 12:15 p.m. Saturday to find that the automatic fire sprinklers extinguished a fire in the garage. The home where the fire started is connected to four other town homes.
The fire department was alerted by the fire alarm inside the home as well as a neighbor who saw smoke.
Fire fighters made sure the fire was completely out, and then shut off the sprinkler system which was automatically activated when the ceiling near the sprinkler heads reached approximately 155 degrees.
Damage was minimal and limited to the garage door, a few personal belongings, and some smoke made it into the house. The fire department estimated $5,000 in damage.
In a release, the fire department said, “The presence of an automatic fire sprinkler system in this home prevented a fire in an unattended home from growing larger and causing severe damage to the owner’s home as well as the neighbors’ homes within the building.
Automatic fire sprinklers are proven to save lives, prevent injuries, protect property, and valuables. This is yet another example of how the presence of an automatic fire sprinkler system prevented substantial damage to a dwelling by fire.”
http://chapelboro.com/news/fire/chapel-hill-home-saved-saturday-by-sprinkler-system/ 79.5°F |
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