A home at the end of Brookwood Drive in the Ken Acres subdivision in Wilkesboro was heavily damaged but not destroyed by fire late on the afternoon of Dec. 30.
âHeavy flames were rolling from the side (of the house) when we arrived, but we were able to get a fast knockdownâ and prevent it from being a complete loss, Wilkesboro Fire Chief Jason Smithey.
Smithey said the fire started in the garage at the base of the right side of the split-level, brick and wood frame home, went up a wall to the next floor, spread into three bedrooms there and continued upward until flames were coming from the roof on the right side of the house.
The Wilkes Sheriffâs Officeâs latest round of felony drug arrests reflects the increased prevalence of imported methamphetamine in Wilkes County, said Capt. Craig Dancy, who heads the agencyâs narcotics unit.
âEverything has gone to meth now,â said Dancy when he announced these latest cases on Dec. 18. Charges against all but four of 35 defendants in the latest round include meth offenses.
âAnd theyâre not making it here anymore because it canât competeâ with meth produced by drug cartels in Mexico, said Dancy. âWe havenât found a meth lab (in Wilkes) in two years.â
He said laws requiring retailers to keep records of people who buy household ingredients used in simple âone-potâ meth labs, once prevalent across Appalachia, are also a factor.
Owners of residences and commercial buildings in at least parts of five Wilkes County fire districts can expect to soon pay less for homeownerâs insurance.
The N.C. Department of Insurance announced earlier this month that it reduced fire suppression ratings for the Knotville, Broadway, Moravian Falls, Mountain View and Mulberry-Fairplains fire districts, effective April 1, 2021.
The private Insurance Services Office (ISO) inspects fire departments and rates them based on a Fire Suppression Rating Schedule from the N.C. Department of Insurance. Nine Wilkes fire departments were inspected in October.
This schedule considers emergency communications, fire department (including equipment and firefighter training hours) and available water supply. It also recognizes efforts fire prevention, public fire safety education and fire investigation efforts.
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