Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Local home and business destroyed by Sunday fire

A home and business were destroyed by fire on Sunday, Dec. 9.

According to Gurdon Fire Chief Robert Burns, the home of Tommy and Stephanie Potter on Front Street which also contained Potters business, Hair it Is, burned so fast, there was nothing firefighters could do to save it.

Burns said Gurdon firefighters were called out at 7 a.m. and were there within minutes. The fire had already broken through the roof of the two-story house and was spreading quickly by the time they arrived. It was engulfed by the time we got there, he said. We couldnt even go inside; we just had to fight it from the outside. There wasnt any stopping it.

The Potters were out of town at the time of the fire, but Burns said one person was staying at the house. The man was sleeping when the fire broke out and was awaken by smoke alarms. He fled to a neighboring house to call for help.

Because the house was a total loss, Burns said there is no way to tell the exact cause of the blaze. He said because it was a warm night, he doubts that there was a wood fire going inside. He said his guess would be that it was an electrical fire that started upstairs.

The burning house sat very close to other structures, so Burns said firefighters had to work hard to save those houses. The wind shifted, and it almost got the house on the right hand side, he said. Were lucky we were able to save that house.

Burns said the house to the right, or north, of Potters home was damaged slightly as the siding melted under the intense heat. Potter also owns that house.On scene by 7:05 a.m., Burns said the fire was contained by 10 a.m. The fire department stayed on scene until 2 p.m. to deal with hot spots. In all, 12 firefighters responded with all three of the departments pumper trucks. No mutual aid was required from other departments.