RISON - A fire believed to have been started by a car parked in garage completely destroyed a home on Hwy. 63 north of Woodlawn last Friday afternoon, Feb. 10, Woodlawn Fire Chief Owen Rushing reported.
Rushing said the fire department received a call at about 1 p.m. Friday about a house fire 3790 Hwy. 63. Calvin Hemphillis the resident listed at that address.
When firefighters arrived at the scene about 5 minutes after the getting the call, Rushing said it appeared that a car had caught fire inside the garage, and the fire had spread into the attic area of the adjoining house.
With the fire contained mostly to the attic area, Rushing said it was difficult to get water to the source of the fire and it quickly spread throughout the house. He said firefighters eventually had to back away from the blaze when portions of the house began collapsing, noting that he narrowly missed having one portion of the house fall on him.
Rushing said no one was at home when the fire started. He said firefighters were at the scene for about two and a half hours.
Rushing called it a total loss, noting that it was a troubling fire for him because it was the first house the Woodlawn Fire Department had lost in four years.
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