Fire, 'explosion' stun Flat Creek-area neighborhood

Reports of an explosion sent members of Bedford County Fire Department from Flat Creek and other districts to a home on Ernest Campbell Road on Thursday. No one was injuried in the blaze, which totally destroyed the garage and all of its contents. (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Order this photo]

Heavy smoke and an explosion alerted a homeowner and neighbors to a blaze that broke out Thursday afternoon in a garage near Flat Creek.

Members of Bedford County Fire Department from Flat Creek and other districts responded to the fire which broke out sometime after 2 p.m. in the garage at the home of Jerry and Dalphine Shadrick, 317 Ernest Campbell Road.

Dalphine said she was in the back of her home when she looked out a window and saw smoke.

At first, she thought her next door neighbors might have started a fire in their fireplace. But then the smoke got thicker, and she looked out the window and called 911.

The Shadricks' neighbors also reported hearing an explosion, which prompted them to call for help as well. One said it seemed as loud as a sonic boom.

The heat of the blaze was so intense that it warped the vinyl siding on the Shadrick home, which is some 40 to 50 feet away from the garage.

Aside from the building being a total loss, the Shadricks lost a golf cart, a go-cart, two riding lawn mowers and all of Jerry's tools, Dalphine said.