Rachel Dove-Baldwin | Daily news An early morning fire on Tuesday consumed a rental home located at 77 Old Hardy Lane, in the Toler community. The Belfry Volunteer Fire Department were kept extremely bust battling the blaze that ignited twice after the intial occurrence. The origin of the fire is under investigation by the State Fire Marshal's office and has been ruled as suspicious. The quick action of the responding firefighters prevented damage from happening to two neighboring homes.

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Rachel Dove-Baldwin

Staff Writer

HARDY, Ky. — An early morning blaze that was reported at approximately 3:15 a.m. on Tuesday lit up the night sky on Old Hardy Lane, in the Toler community. The rental home was currently unoccupied but the fire endangered two neighboring homes located in close proximity to the burning structure.

Charlie “Boe” and Lois Pitts live within a few feet of the 77 Old Hardy Lane address where the fire broke out, and were awakened to the strong smell of smoke in the wee hours of the morning.

“My husband set up in the bed and asked me if I smelled smoke,” stated Lois. “It was so strong we first thought our home was on fire. He jumped up and looked out the window and immediately called 911, and told me it was the house next door. Thankfully, no one was living in the home and the Belfry Fire Dept. got here really fast and prevented the fire from spreading. We can’t thank them enough for their timely response. When it rekindled, they came right back – not once, but twice and stayed until they knew all danger had passed. They truly are a good group of guys.”

The home has seen many tenants throughout the past couple of years, with the most recent vacating approximately two weeks ago. The Appalachian Electric Power representative that arrived on scene to disengage a live wire that burned into stated that the electricity to the house has been disconnected prior to the fire, so that omits the chance the blaze could have been electrical in origin.

Belfry Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) Chief Nee Jackson told the Daily News that the fire was of suspicious nature and the State Fire Marshal Investigator was due to arrive Monday afternoon to hopefully uncover the cause.

“What stands out to me is the fact that it rekindled twice, and the last time was a more powerful fire than even the first initial occurrence. Two other homes could easily have been damaged or destroyed. Thankfully, that didn’t happen,” commented Jackson.

The BVFD responded with 12 firefighters and two trucks. One Blackberry fireman who lives in the area also extended a helping hand. More information on this fire will be released as it becomes available.