Firefighters rescue resident from fire in Canton

Aarik Long, The Mountaineer, Waynesville, N.C.
·1 min read

Apr. 27—Canton firefighters saved a woman from a house fire in the early morning hours Tuesday.

"It was a small fire that we had to extinguish before we could get her out," Canton Fire Chief Kevin Wheeler said. "There was a lot of heat and smoke damage."

Firefighters responded just after 4:30 a.m. to a structure fire of a single-family residential home at 16 Boxwood Terrace near downtown Canton. When they arrived, smoke and flames were visible.

The fire started on the second floor of the home, but the cause is still under investigation.

The fire was extinguished just after 4:50 a.m. Firefighters had to extinguish the fire before they could enter the building to rescue the individual.

"It all depends on the location," Wheeler said. "If we can get to an area where we think they're at then we'll go in while another crew is extinguishing the fire."

The homeowner, Marva Coleman, was transported to Mission Hospital by Haywood EMS. As of Friday morning, she was still in the hospital. Her house had smoke and water damage, but is not a total loss.

North Canton, Center Pigeon, Clyde and Junaluska Fire Departments, along with Canton Police, responded to the blaze.