Thank you for your coverage of the fires in town.

I have been amazed at the lack of information available. Does anyone know if it's because law enforcement officers are looking at a possible/probable crime scene? Or is it a lack of effort on behalf of most of the news media in the area? The Mitchell News Journal has been great, especially as they are a weekly paper. But outside the county coverage has been real lax, the same info rewritten in different ways but nothing new.

I read on another forum yesterday that the depot burned. Any truth to that anyone?

Bottom line: I'm a native that now lives 75 miles away and I'm fishing for information, gossip, speculation, anything...

lower st. webcam
www.highcountrywebcams.com/webcameras_sprucepine.htm

I've heard conflicting reports as to whether or not these fires were arson or accident. Does anyone know for certain yet which it is?
Also, I think it's very important that the area firefighters be recognized for their hard work & dedication. These folks are volunteers who go out no matter what time of day or night their pagers go off.

Thanks Bobby B for the webcam link. I now have it bookmarked.

Absolutely agree that thanks go to the volunteer firefighters. Without their training and experience this fire could have taken a much larger toll. It takes a lot of dedication and caring to crawl out of bed on a Saturday night to go fight a fire. Where would we be without them?

I am wondering about the cause myself. I'm not sure of the timeline so I'll ask a couple of questions and hope someone answers. When was power to the downtown area affected? Was that before the second fire? Is it possible that the power outage (or however it happened) caused a short that started the second fire?

Other than the above speculation, how often does a town the size of Spruce Pine have two fires like this two nights running? (without a little help?) Any rumors about reasons for arson? Accident seems to me to be stretching it...

I don't think anyone knows for certain, but a man is now in custody charged with arson in connection with the fires. See one of the stories above in the news section.

Oh, and the depot was damaged quite a bit. I am unsure if it was total loss, but I have heard that as well.

Monday, August 06, 2007
A Whole Block Burns in Spruce Pine, NC

by Andre A. Rodriguez, ARODRIGUEZ@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published August 6, 2007 12:15 am


SPRUCE PINE — Downtown Spruce Pine business owners are reeling from a massive fire over the weekend that destroyed at least 10 downtown businesses.

Fire crews were still mopping up from a fire that destroyed one building early Saturday on Oak Avenue when a call went out about 8 p.m. Saturday about a fire on Locust Street, Spruce Pine Fire Department Chief David Hughes said.


Firetrucks stretched from one end of the block to the other as crews battled the blaze in the 100 block of Locust for about 10 hours. Departments from Avery, Yancy and McDowell counties, as well as every department in Mitchell County, responded to the scene.

Source: Asheville Citizen Times
Snapshot: To preserve it as is.


An early morning fire destroyed three businesses and a church along Oak Street. The blaze broke out between 1:30 and 2 a.m. Saturday in a three-story brick structure.

It resulted in a total loss of Miller Insurance, attorney Brian Buchanan’s law office, Keen Enterprises and a church, according to published reports.

A new fire in downtown Spruce Pine broke out after midnight Sunday.

Emergency workers blocked off most of downtown and asked residents to stay out of the area until further notice. Nearby emergency services are traveling to Spruce Pine to help firefighters.



It resulted in a total loss of Miller Insurance, attorney Brian Buchanan’s law office, Keen Enterprises and a church, according to published reports.

A new fire in downtown Spruce Pine broke out after midnight Sunday.

Emergency workers blocked off most of downtown and asked residents to stay out of the area until further notice. Nearby emergency services are traveling to Spruce Pine to help firefighters.