75-year-old man dies in Holly Springs house fire

A 75-year-old man is dead and a family has lost its home after a house fire early Friday in Holly Springs.

The fire broke out shortly before 4 a.m. on Easton Street in the Easton Acres neighborhood in southwest Wake County.

Family members reported hearing an explosion and smoke alarms that woke them up, according to a town news release.

Frankie Carl Richardson, 75, was killed, the release stated. Five other family members inside the home were able to make it out.

One firefighter suffered minor injuries.

The home is a total loss, according to the release, and the American Red Cross is helping the family with temporary housing.

Holly Springs Fire Chief LeRoy Smith told ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner, that smoke and the extreme cold were challenges.

“Any time you have a fire, the furnishing inside adds to the fuel load, so there was an extensive amount of fire,” he said. “Crews did put a lot of water on the fire and knock it down pretty quickly, but with that and the cold there was a lot of smoke. It kind of hampered the search effort.”

Five fire departments responded to the blaze, which remains under investigation

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 8:06 AM.