Fire damages

Boone home
By Melanie Davis
melanie@highcountrymedia.net

A house fire that damaged a Boone home apparently started in a doghouse on Monday night.

Boone firefighters contained the fire after a four-hour battle. The house, belonging to Richard and Denise Foutz, caught fire just before 10 p.m.

Boone Fire Department Chief Reggie Hassler said the blaze was caused by an outdoor doghouse on the porch.
The family had been heating it with a flood light, which ignited the blaze, Hassler said.

Richard Foutz and the couple’s youngest child were at home when the fire broke out.

Both escaped without injury.

The Blowing Rock Fire Department assisted the BFD.

According to fire department reports, the home sustained approximately $175,000 worth of structural damage, all contained to one side of the home.

Hassler said the freezing temperatures did not affect their ability to extinguish the flames.

“We are trained to handle these situations. With the use of heaters, we were able to put out the fire and suffered no damage to any of our trucks or equipment,” he said.