‘The destruction down there is unfathomable’: Danville fire destroys buildings, damages homes

On Saturday night, a controlled burn gone wrong destroyed buildings, damaged homes and sent one firefighter to the hospital.

“The destruction down there is unfathomable,” Angie Kennedy said. “It looks like something that went off like a bomb or something, and to look around there anyone could have been hurt. Anyone could have been, that’s my concern.”

The call came in around 5:30 Saturday night for a controlled burn gone wrong at the old Danville Lumber Company facility.

“We lost like five buildings down there in the lumber facility itself, including the main office building,” Danville Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Tony Nichols said.

Plus, surrounding homes and cars were damaged including Kennedy’s son’s home.

“I’m just really upset about it because I just feel like we get a stigma down here that we’re not intelligent. We’re more intelligent than this, and more thought should’ve been put into this burn,” Kennedy told Eyewitness News.

She said her son was not there when the fire happened.

“They had their two dogs in there, and those people that did start the fire did get the dogs out,” Kennedy said.

Nichols estimates almost one million gallons of water were used to put out the flames that evacuated several homes and sent one firefighter to the hospital for minor injuries.

“A lot of activity, a lot of people in here,” Nichols said. “Couldn’t tell you how many men and women we had fighting the fire last night. I have no clue. I just know there was a bunch of people here, and it was a really, really tough fire.”

Kennedy hopes people will think about what Saturday’s flames caused before striking a match.

“Please let this one lesson come out of this,” Kennedy said. “Please think before you strike that first match. Get professionals that know about this like their fire department, the police department to come down and watch. Whatever it takes. Let’s keep this from happening.”

Nichols told Eyewitness News the rubble has been pushed into piles to eliminate hot spots and will eventually be removed.