Park Drive fire was accidental

The cause of a blaze at a house on Park Drive in Mount Airy has been ruled accidental in nature, a city fire official said Saturday.

Chief Zane Poindexter also set aside fears that some type of explosion occurred at the scene of Thursday morning’s incident at 1312 Park Drive, located off Rockford Street in the vicinity of Walmart.

Poindexter said “I really don’t know” the origin of reports to that effect.

“Unless it was just the normal booms and bangs associated with a house fire,” he speculated.

Such sounds can occur when high-pressure aerosol cans are exposed to intense heat, for example.

Poindexter added Saturday that investigators are “comfortable” there was nothing sinister regarding the blaze fire crews responded to around 9 a.m. Thursday.

It has been linked to a simple household appliance.

“It was an electrical malfunction near the refrigerator,” the fire chief advised.

“This was a vacant property,” he said of the house owned by Thomas and Maria Brock.

However, electricity had been connected to the structure just a short time before.

The incident attracted the scrutiny not only of city Fire Marshal/Assistant Chief Chris Fallaw, but the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, Mount Airy Police Department and Surry County Fire Marshal’s Office.

“At first there were some red flags, I guess you’d say,” Poindexter explained regarding the involvement of those agencies.

One surrounded a large amount of flames shooting from the house, which seemed irregular.

But it was determined that mattresses had been stored in the upper portion of the structure, which are considered substantial fuel sources for home fires. Once ignited, mattress fires can grow quickly.

“We just wanted to make sure we covered all our bases,” Poindexter said of checking out such elements.

Damages are estimated at $49,600 to the structure and $7,000 to contents.

No injuries resulted among any of the 29 firefighters who responded.

In addition to city personnel, they included members of the Bannertown, Four-Way and Franklin fire departments.

The Surry County EMS and Duke Energy also were on the scene.