IREDELL COUNTY, NC – Firefighters say no one was injured Sunday afternoon when a two-story home near Cool Springs was destroyed by a blaze that sent a pillar of smoke into the sky seen from as far as Interstate 77.

Both residents, Lisa Huff and daughter Morgan Huff, were away from their home at 1020 Mocksville Highway, at the time of the fire. Family members also reported all pets were away from the home as well.

“I’m shocked, worried, but I’m happy that I wasn’t there, that Mom wasn’t there, that my dogs weren’t there,” said Morgan Huff, 22, as the house continued to burn behind her.

“It’s a miracle,” said Pamela Lindley, Lisa Huff’s mother, in reference to no one being home at the time.

The fire was reported around 12:30 p.m., after passersby saw the smoke from the highway. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Crews with Cool Springs, Wayside, Harmony, Ebenezer, Statesville, County Line and Rowan-Iredell fire departments battled the flames well into the afternoon. More than 70 people were involved in the operation, according to reports.

Cool Springs Chief Andy Webster declared the home, located off of U.S. 64 in the Mor-Lan Farms subdivision, a total loss. Webster, who said he lives a short distance away from the home, noted that he was the first on the scene.

“The house was a total loss when I got here. … It was fire from one end to the other,” Webster said. “Unfortunately there was nothing we could do when we got here. If we had all the water in the world there was nothing we could have done.”

A pickup truck parked in front of the home was also destroyed.

Some who passed by the house pulled over to watch the scene, Webster said, and the traffic impeded emergency vehicles, including fire trucks that were collecting water from a nearby source.

As a result, law enforcement was called in to close off a portion of Mocksville Highway.

Lisa Huff was staying at the hospital on Sunday, family members reported, while her daughter and their three dogs were staying with a friend over the weekend.

The house, owned by Lisa Huff, had a tax value of $304,000, according to Iredell County records.

The family said the home was built around 17 years ago. Morgan Huff said she believed it was insured.

The home and surrounding land is listed for sale through Lake Norman Realty, Inc. with an asking price of $1.6 million. The 3,700-square-foot structure had four bedrooms and was isolated on all sides by more than 100 acres of land.

Article via statesville.com