A vacant trailer in the Mimosa Mobile Home Park went up in flames Monday afternoon.
The emergency call from a neighbor came in a little after 3 p.m., and even though fire personnel arrived minutes later, the building was completely engulfed in flames. According to Eng. Bryan Lilley, Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS and Broad Creek EMS, the fire probably took a total of less than half an hour to rip through the mobile home.
“Once fire gets into one of these, it doesn’t take long,” Lilley said.
Bunyan Volunteer Fire Department, Chocowinity VFD, Broad Creek EMS and Washington Fire-Rescue-EMS all responded to the fire at 355 Jacks Street, at the mobile home park off of River Road in Washington.
According to witnesses, a next-door neighbor alerted other neighbors and authorities when he saw smoke, then flames. They said the mobile home had been vacated by its previous tenant early last week but the woman had left a few things behind, including clothes and a television.
Beaufort County Fire Marshal Curtis Avery said power to the trailer had been turned off prior to the fire’s start. Authorities could not yet determine the fire’s source.