2010-08-17
Devetta Blount
Fire officials in Candler said that early Tuesday morning 22 people living in a house for migrant farm workers were able to escape a fire unharmed.
WFMY News 2/Asheville Citizen-Times
Fire officials in Candler said that early Tuesday morning 22 people living in a house for migrant farm workers were able to escape a fire unharmed.
The blaze destroyed the split-level home located near the Haywood County line. Battalion Chief Woody Trotter told the Asheville Citizen-Times that the fire broke out about 4:45 a.m., and it took firefighters from several departments about 30 minutes to put it out.
Trotter said the home was a total loss but everyone got out safely. He said someone woke up, smelled smoke and everyone escaped.
Asheville-Buncombe Arson Investigator, Jeff Tracz, confirmed that the people in the home are migrant workers who pick produce during the summer at farms in the area.
According to Mountain Area Red Cross Spokesperson Steve Dykes, a family of five that included adolescents and 17 people of working age lived in the house. A Red Cross disaster assistance team went to the scene to help the workers and find them a motel.
Tracz also told the paper that the fire appears to have started on the back porch. He said it's too early in the investigation to know if it was set intentionally. Investigators have yet to find a smoke detector, he said. Tracz, said the house had been added on to, and it appeared people were living in the garage area.
Investigators are asking anyone with information to call Crimestoppers at 828-255-5050.
Agriculture and horticulture workers
Public awareness
Health and safety at work and Housing standards
United States
English