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A fire occurred at 160 Brendle Road in the early hours Monday, June 19. The cause is under investigation.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
A fire in the early hours of Monday, June 19 had firefighters doing what they do best at 3:23 a.m. at 160 Brendle Cove Road.
The fire encompassed a single-story residence on the private, gated road, as well as around two and a half acres of woods around the house.
According to Bryson City Fire Chief Charles Bryson, the cause of the fire is still unknown and being investigated.
The residence where the fire started is used as an Airbnb. Bryson said the owners were there, though he didn’t know if any tenants had been staying there when the fire started.
Firefighters had to tear down the drywall from the ceiling throughout the house to get to the fire, and the house sustained large amounts of damage – both from the fire and from the water damage from the firefighters’ suppression work.
Firefighters from West Swain responded since it was in their district, while support came from Swain County Dispatch, Alarka Fire Department, Bryson City Fire Department, Swain County Sheriff's Office, NC Forest Service, Duke Energy and Swain EMS.
Wanting to stop the fire from spreading to other residences in the area, firefighters set up a control line around the fire before the NC Forest Service arrived. Then, the forest personnel dealt with major hot spots.
The suppression of the fire continued until around 6:30 a.m. West Swain personnel stayed on and finished off the last of the work by the morning.