A late-night apartment fire in Dunn turned deadly over the July 4 weekend, leaving an infant dead and three people in the hospital after flames tore through a four-unit building on East Pope Street.
Fire crews rushed to the 1000 block of East Pope Street on Saturday after neighbors reported seeing flames pouring from a unit. One 911 caller told dispatchers that fire was coming from a window and suggested a firework might have entered the apartment. Authorities later confirmed that three people were taken to a hospital and an infant was found dead inside. The Dunn Police Department and the Harnett County Fire Marshal’s Office are leading the investigation, according to ABC11.
State Officials Point To Firework Risks
The deadly blaze unfolded as state officials were already sounding the alarm about fireworks safety ahead of the holiday.
This week the NC Office of State Fire Marshal released a sparkler safety documentary and urged people to skip backyard pyrotechnics in favor of professional shows, noting that sparklers can burn at more than 2,000 degrees, according to the NC Office of State Fire Marshal. Across North Carolina, an average of 192 people end up in emergency departments each year with fireworks-related injuries, NC Health News reports.
Neighbors Displaced, Red Cross Steps In
The fire did not just devastate one family. Roughly a dozen residents from the four-unit building were forced out, and the American Red Cross is now helping those displaced find temporary shelter and basic necessities.
City and county agencies are coordinating shelter options and longer-term recovery assistance while investigators continue their work at the scene, according to ABC11.
Investigation Ongoing
Officials have not yet identified a cause for the fire. Investigators with the Dunn Police Department and the Harnett County Fire Marshal’s Office are examining whether fireworks played any role and are gathering additional evidence from the scene.
State Fire Marshal Brian Taylor has stressed that the safest way to enjoy fireworks is to leave them to experts. “The safest way to enjoy fireworks is by attending a professionally conducted public display,” he said in a release from the NC Office of State Fire Marshal.
