HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. — A volunteer firefighter’s house was destroyed by a fire Wednesday morning.
WLOS reported that crews from Valley Hill Fire and Rescue responded around 11 a.m. and found the attic fully involved. Firefighter Dwight Hill, a 30-year veteran, was working five miles away when he got an alert on his phone for a structure fire at his address.
“The first thing that popped in my mind was that he lived on this road,” Chief Tim Garren said. “I got down and headed this way and realized because I pulled it on a computer that it was his house. I know the guys did all they could do and we did as a team everything we could do, but it just doesn’t feel like enough.”
The home has belonged to Hill and his wife for more than 30 years.
“For me to be here and already be working it and see him pull up and to see his face, it was just heart-wrenching,” Chief Garren said. “It made it that much worse.”
No one was home at the time and the house was declared a total loss.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.