Holiday fires displace Durham family, force 10 to move at motel

Holiday fires that displaced a Durham family and forced 10 people to move to other rooms at a Durham motel remain under investigation.

The blaze that may have destroyed a home on Spring Creek Drive on Christmas Eve started on the porch, fire officials said.

“There was damage to every room in the house and severe damage to the roof, so I would call it a very high loss fire,” Deputy Chief Chris Iannuzzi said in an email Wednesday. “Whether or not it is destroyed is up to a contractor to determine.”

The fire began shortly before 4:50 p.m. Monday at the two-story house at 2039 Spring Creek Drive,

The family was not home, and there were no injuries. The American Red Cross is helping the two adults and three children that lived there.

Neighbors called to report smoke and fire shooting out of the home.

”Tragic. Tragic. I really feel for the family because it being around the holiday season no one wants to have an incident of this major proportion happen in their home,” neighbor Jay Melton said. “With them having their three children it could be a traumatic thing to try to explain to them exactly what was going on and what happened to their home. So just, count your blessing because this could happen to anybody.”

The fire was under control in about 30 minutes. Homes on both sides sustained heat damage, and one had extensive exterior damage, Iannuzzi said..

The second fire, at about 10:35 a.m. Tuesday, occurred at the Carolina Duke Motor Inn, 2517 Guess Road.

Firefighters arrived to see heavy flames on the second floor. One room was badly damaged and three others sustained smoke damage.

There were no injuries, but 10 residents were moved to other other rooms at the motel, Iannuzzi said. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Chapel Hill fire

In Chapel Hill, firefighters responded to a fire at 6:53 a.m. Tuesday on Oldham Place.

The fire was quickly contained, with damage limited to the chimney area, according to a news release.

There were no injuries and crews remained on the scene until 9 a.m. The Carrboro Fire Department and Orange County EMS provided mutual aid.

The initial version of this story was published through a partnership with ABC11.

This story was originally published December 25, 2018 at 2:49 PM.