Fire Destroys Home in Avery County



The fire started at a home located on Bear Paw Drive just off of Blevin's Creek in the Cranberry Creek Estates community around 1:30 yesterday afternoon. The owner of the house, Lorinda Schneider, was outside doing yardwork at the time the fire started. Schneider's dog was able to alert the owner that something was wrong as she noticed thick heavy smoke coming from the house. As fire units responded, they arrived to the entrance to the estates to find a coded gate keeping them from entering the community. Crews were able to use a fire truck to push through the gate. Crews were called out to the same housing development on Monday night but were told it was a false alarm before they arrived on scene. It is unknown if the false alarm was at the same residence in the community. We were able to speak with a member of the Elk Park Volunteer Firedepartment who told us weather conditions made it tough on battling the 2 story blaze. The fire is still under investigation but investigators believe the fire began outside of the residence.