Firefighters’ efforts against house fire hindered by drug paraphernalia

Firefighters’ efforts to extinguish a house fire in north Corbin Monday morning was made more difficult by the debris strewn about inside.

West Knox and Lily Fire Department’s were called to the scene on Goodin Lane off of U.S. 25W near Kentucky Fried Chicken about 6:30 a.m.

“We had flames coming from the eves of the house and one room on the right,” said West Knox Fire Chief Daryl Baker when asked what firefighters saw when they arrived.

Baker said a neighbor told firefighters that there was no one living in the single story home at the time as the previous residents had been arrested on drug-related charges.

Firefighters were able to knock down the flames within 15 minutes. Baker said that firefighters were ready to make entry when the son of the homeowner advised them about the trash scattered throughout, and that it also included assorted drug paraphernalia including use syringes.

Firefighters busted open the locked door to gain entry.

“We were only going to go in if we could do it without being forced to crawl,” Baker said. “We didn’t want to take a chance of one of the firefighters having a needle go through the gloves and get stuck.”

Firefighters were on scene until 8 a.m. performing salvage and overhaul.

“We were able to save it,” Baker said.

Baker said the cause of the fire is undetermined and will remain that way unless the owner or the insurance company contacts the state police about conducting an investigation.

“There was no electricity, no utilities and no one living there,” Baker said.

“We weren’t going to go sifting around through the debris because there were so many drug-related things in there,” he added.

Ambulance Inc. of Laurel County also responded to the scene.