Fire badly damages unoccupied Summerfield house

by CHRIS BURRITT

SUMMERFIELD – A fire last Saturday night, June 24, badly damaged a house in downtown Summerfield and prompted an investigation after neighbors reported hearing an explosion.

Melvin Stone, the owner of the single-level house at 4911 Rhondan Road, wasn’t home when firefighters responded to the blaze at about 10:36 p.m., Summerfield Fire District Chief Chris Johnson said.

Crews “found a house that had heavy fire and smoke showing,” Johnson said in an email earlier this week. “Neighbors told me the house exploded. We found evidence of that by windows and doors (being) blown out.”

The house wasn’t served by propane or natural gas, ruling out those sources as possible causes for the explosion, according to the chief.

An investigation by the Guilford County and the state Fire Marshal’s offices and the federal Bureau of

Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) identified the cause of the fire as an accumulation of methane gas in the house’s septic system, according to Johnson.

The gas “found an ignition source and caught on fire (exploded),” initially in the kitchen area and then in the bathroom, the chief said.

Johnson said he also “heard bangs, which I initially thought was ammo going off, but (it) could have been the siding. The type of old siding on that house will make a popping sound as well when heated up.”

After the first alarm, a second was sounded “due to Summerfield not having water and needing more water for a wellinvolved fire,” the chief said. Tankers hauled water from a hydrant on Battleground Avenue.

Crews “fought the fire as a defensive operation,” Johnson said, meaning that firefighters stayed outside until the blaze was suppressed enough to allow for safe entry.

All three Summerfield fire stations responded to the blaze, as did the fire departments in Greensboro, the county, Oak Ridge, Stokesdale and Colfax. Other agencies included the county Sheriff’s Office and EMS, fire investigators from Charlotte and ATF’s K9 unit.