Fire destroys Bessemer City home

Candy Skidmore wiped away tears as she watched her home of eight years burn, flames billowing from the top of the ornate white house.

"Pray, please pray," she said through tears. "All my photos, my wedding photos, my children's photos, my mom's stuff, all her photos--" burned in the fire.

Skidmore was at work when she received the call. Her husband and son had just left for work themselves, and her son-in-law's uncle spotted smoke.

"He lives on the corner," she said. "Somebody said it was like an explosion. It came out the front door."

The fire was reported at around 1:40 p.m. Tuesday. When firefighters arrived, the house was fully engulfed in flames, Bessemer City Public Safety Director Tom Ellis said. Ultimately, firefighters from five different departments fought the fire, which blackened the ivory siding on the house.

Ellis said that it was the biggest fire Bessemer City has had in years.

"It's been quite a while. This is the biggest fire we've had in quite a while," he said.

The house, located at 301 West Virginia, is 103 years old. It was built in 1920, according to property records, and Skidmore purchased the home in 2015 from Lucille Ellis, who lived in the home for 25 years before renting it out and then selling it.

Ellis said that when she moved into the house, the Fundamental Baptist Home Missions Board used the bottom portion of the house as a headquarters.

Ellis, who lived in the house from 1983 until 2008, now works at the Fundamentalist Baptist Home Missions Board's headquarters down the street from what was once her dream home. She heard the sirens Tuesday afternoon. When she looked, she saw the billowing, black smoke, which could be seen easily from downtown Bessemer City.

Her daughter, Marie Stewart said that she was immediately concerned about the Skidmores.

"I wanted to be sure Mr. Skidmore wasn't in there," she said.

The Gaston County Fire Marshal's Office is investigating the cause of the fire.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Fire destroys Bessemer City home