FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE SUSPICIOUS STRUCTURE FIRE
One Firefighter Taken to Hospital

By Jon Mayhew



CROUSE -- Three fire departments were called out around 10:30 a.m.. Sunday to a structure fire at a residence in the 1000 block of Swing Trail, which is off Rose Hill Road and Highway 150. Crouse firefighters were assisted by Lincolnton and South Fork firefighters in battling the blaze.

According to South Fork fire chief Rick Ellis, firefighters encountered heavy smoke and fire once responding to the residence.

"The fire was in the middle of the residence," said Ellis. One firefighter had to be taken to Carolinas Medical Center - Lincoln and treated for heat exposure.

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Neighbors watched on as firefighters worked to bring the fire under control. Several residents identfied the resident who lived there as Michael Tinkerton. One neighbor said she saw him at the residence earier in the day, with the front door to his singlewide mobile home open.

Another neighbor, who went to pick up his father to go to the store, noticed the smoke and called 911.

The Carolina Scoop learned late Sunday morning that firefighters believe the fire was suspicious in nature because a barrel was found where the fire started. The Lincoln County Fire Marshal's office is investigating a cause.

Firefighters at the scene received a second structure fire call around 11:30 a.m. Sunday for smoke in the attic of a residence on the Lincolnton/Crouse Highway. Nothing was found.