Staff Writer
A house
fire broke out in Charlotte, North Carolina early Monday morning at Ron
Rivera’s personal estate. Rivera, head football coach of the Carolina
Panthers), spoke publicly that afternoon to announce that everyone got out
safely, but the fire had taken quite a toll on the family’s home. After
firefighters had controlled and extinguished the fire, there was a reported
$500,000 worth of damage. Directly after the fire broke out, officials said a
total of 55 firefighters responded to the two-alarm call at 4:00 a.m. The fire
spread so quickly to the upper floors that firefighters had to cut a hole in
the roof in order to keep the fire under control. Fire Captain Rob Brisley told
reporters, “The challenge with this large house was this fire had escaped to
the roof area and it required more firefighters and extra hoses to contain. The
fire department was able to control this fire in about an hour, but we have a
long morning ahead of us.”
Rivera
suspects that the house fire was started by a smoldering fireplace left to burn
out while the family was watching the NFC wild card game between the Lions and
the Cowboys. Rivera had come home from work late and watched the end of the
football game Sunday night, but neglected to put out the fire for it was not
burning. Rivera believes that the fire must have somehow started up again and
escaped the boundaries of the fireplace. Nobody was aware of the fire until the
family was awakened by smoke alarms and immediately vacated the house. The entire
family, out of town relatives, and even the family dog were able to make it out
safely. Pets that weren't able to escape were later rescued by firefighters.
Rivera is now working on short term living arrangements now, but hasn't found
anything permanent yet.
