Overnight Rocky Fork Road blaze destroys Fairview home and vehicle, no injuries

Fire crews battled a large structure fire on Rocky Fork Road in Fairview overnight, extinguishing flames that consumed a three-story home and one vehicle while preventing injuries, officials said. The call came in during the early-morning hours of Jan. 30 and crews worked through difficult conditions to secure the scene.

Fairview Volunteer Fire Department crews and mutual-aid partners fought the blaze from about 1 a.m. until the scene was officially cleared at 7 a.m. Emergency responders reported the home was a total loss and that one vehicle was also destroyed. The resident escaped safely and no firefighters were injured. The cause of the fire is under investigation and remains undetermined.

Crews arrived to find the structure fully involved in flames and faced challenging access and safety hazards that slowed operations. Narrow, steep driveway access forced firefighters to haul water and use relay pumping operations up the mountainside to deliver water to the scene. A live power line, melted by the heat, burned on the ground and limited crews’ ability to work on one side of the structure until Duke Energy de-energized the line, department officials said.

Chief Scott Jones of the Fairview Volunteer Fire Department described the conditions crews faced at the scene: “Had this fire occurred two weeks ago when it was dry and windy, not only would we have been fighting the structure fire, we would have had a wildfire quickly spreading up the mountain. Firefighters had to work around the live power line while we waited on Duke Energy to arrive to disconnect the power line that was laying on the ground sparking. Firefighters also dealt with temperatures that were below freezing, which caused the water we were using to fight the fire to freeze on the asphalt.”

Including Fairview VFD, a total of 11 fire departments assisted on the call. Departments thanked mutual-aid partners and Fairview VFD asked the community to keep the displaced resident in their thoughts after the loss of the home. Crews returned to service after cleaning and resetting equipment early Friday morning.

The incident underscores the unique firefighting challenges for mountain properties in Buncombe County: steep access, limited water supply, and extreme cold that can create slippery, hazardous working conditions. An extreme cold watch in the region warned of dangerously low wind chills in the -10s to -20s during the period, compounding risks at the scene.

Investigators will continue work to determine the fire’s origin. For Rocky Fork Road neighbors and other mountain-area residents, the response highlights the importance of clear access for emergency vehicles and coordinated mutual-aid plans. County officials and the fire department may provide further updates as investigations and recovery efforts proceed.