MATTHEWS, N.C. — A fire destroyed a home in Matthews Thursday morning.
It started just before 4 a.m. on Old House Circle just off Margaret Wallace Road.
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Video from a neighbor shows what crews found when they got to the scene. Flames were shooting through the roof.
Crews said it took about 20 minutes to get the blaze under control. Charlotte and Matthews firefighters rescued four dogs.
MEDIC said they evaluated one person at the scene but they were not taken to the hospital.
“Just woken up around like 2:30 -- maybe to go to the bathroom -- was falling back asleep and, in a haze, I heard a loud bang sound. Fizzing,” neighbor Conor Quinlivan said.
He said he couldn’t tell what the sound was until he looked out his window and saw his neighbor’s house in flames.
“As soon as I opened the window, it was a massive fire -- it took over everything inside of the house,” Quinlivan said.
“It was insane.”
He said he called 911 and then quickly jumped into action to check on his neighbors.
“Hopped over this fence -- the fence over here wasn’t moving -- I had to shimmy and remove that fence over there,” he explained.
Quinlivan was glad to hear no one was hospitalized.
“They’re as good as a family as anybody’s,” he said. “I’d like to think that somebody would do it if it was ours.”
Investigators said the fire began on the back patio after someone was smoking and didn’t put it out correctly.
It’s estimated the fire caused $99,000 in damage to the home. The back windows and nearly half of the roof were gone after the flames finished.
The Red Cross is helping the five adults who lived there find somewhere to stay.
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