By Joel van der Veen
DAVIDSON — The owner of a building on Davidson’s main street said it’s a miracle no one was hurt after a fire broke out in one of its apartments last weekend.
The fire began in the kitchen of an upstairs apartment above the former Midway Store on Washington Avenue around 4 p.m. on June 20.
Businessman Terry Dieno, who owns the building, said the apartment’s three residents had come home after working a shift and were asleep when the fire started.
One woke up and alerted the other two, he said. All three, as well as the other inhabitants of the building, escaped without injury.
The residents extinguished the blaze before the fire department arrived, but their apartment suffered smoke and water damage.
“You couldn’t breathe in there,” said Dieno. “How they didn’t succumb to it (while) sleeping, I don’t know.”
Dieno said two apartments located below the first one also suffered water damage. The building was evacuated and its 16 residents found other places to stay on Saturday night.
He said insurance adjusters were in the building on Monday. Power and gas services were cut off after the fire but have since been restored.
The three affected apartments have been gutted, while the other residents have since returned to their apartments. Of the 16 residents, seven are still unable to return to their homes.
Dieno said the water and smoke damage was extensive, but credited the residents and the fire department with saving the building. He also said he was thankful that no one was injured or killed.
Clayton Schilling, chief of the Davidson Volunteer Fire Department, said they received the call at 4:20 p.m. and confirmed that the fire had already been extinguished when they arrived.
He said firefighters cooled down the hot spots and determined that the fire started in the kitchen near the stove.
Dieno said a burner left running on the stove was responsible for the fire. Schilling said the department did not determine the cause of the fire.
The building’s apartments are all occupied by employees working for the Davidson A&W and Fast Toys for Boys, Dieno said.