Charlotte Fire Department

Charlotte NC – On February 19^th at 2:23 AM, firefighters were dispatched to a reported structure fire in the area of Glory Street and West Sugar Creek Road in north Charlotte.

Firefighters from nearby Station 15 were first to arrive at 301 West Sugar Creek Road and reported heavy fire conditions involving an approximately 50’ X 75’ storage building believed to have been used as a barn at some point in the past. An immediate exposure to the primary fire building was a 35’ X 50’ residential structure emitting heavy smoke and believed to be on fire also.

Firefighters launched an aggressive fire attack making use of large water streams and were able to knockdown the fire and bring the incident under control in 22 minutes. A total of (27) Firefighters were summoned to the scene. Both structures were vacant at the time of the incident and the cause of the fire has been determined to be arson. The storage building thought to be a barn was a total loss and the damage to the residential storage was estimated at $10,000. There are no injuries to report.

Fire Investigators are seeking the public’s assistance and are asking anyone with information pertaining to this fire to call Crime Stoppers at (704) 334-1600. (You may be eligible for a reward)

Eternally committed to duty and service,

Mark Basnight

Public Information Officer

Office of Media and Public Affairs

Charlotte Fire Department

Charlotte NC – Firefighters responded to 2 serious motor vehicle accidents on Charlotte Metropolitan interstates this weekend that claimed the life of a teenager and injured 5 others.

The first of which occurred late Friday evening, February 17^th on I-485 the Inner loop between Pineville-Matthews Road and South Boulevard. Charlotte Firefighters responded to reports of a traffic collision with pin-in at 11:40 PM. Crews from Station 24 were first on scene and reported multiple patients, however no one was pinned.

Firefighters and paramedics coordinated patient care for five passengers of an SUV that was struck by an unidentified vehicle that fled the scene. Sadly, 14 year-old David Conrad Bell Jr. sustained injuries non-conducive for life and was pronounced deceased on scene.

Anyone with information pertaining to this traffic collision is asked to call the North Carolina Highway Patrol at *HP (47).

The second incident occurred in the early morning hours of Saturday, February 18^th. At 2:28 AM Firefighters were dispatched to a reported motor vehicle accident with a vehicle overturned. The incident was reported to be on I-77 Southbound between Woodlawn and Tyvola Roads.

Paramedics were first to arrive and reported a passenger car overturned in a ditch with a person pinned under the vehicle’s windshield and hood area. Once on scene, firefighters and Rescue Technicians initiated rescue operations utilizing specialized rescue equipment and tools.

A well-coordinated technical rescue by (18) firefighters resulted in the successful extrication of the driver who was transported to an area hospital.

Eternally committed to duty and service,

Mark Basnight

Public Information Officer

Office of Media and Public Affairs

Charlotte Fire Department