No one was injured in a fire Thursday in the J. Iverson Riddle Center’s woodworking department.
Police have yet to determine the cause of the fire at 300 Enola Drive or the amount of damage the building sustained.
Firefighters were called shortly before noon, and the flames were out by 12:30 p.m.
Riddle Center Director Art Robarge says staff and residents were in the building when staff noticed smoke filling the building.
The employees immediately evacuated the building, he said, and contacted Morganton Public Safety.
Fire Capt. John Campbell said heavy smoke was showing when he and other public safety officers responded.
He was part of a team that initially entered the building, but the firefighters had to fall back because they could not see through the thick smoke.
Firefighters had to ventilate the building, he said.
A team of officers climbed to the roof, using halberds and axes to open up skylights to let the smoke escape through the roof. Another group of firemen used a power saw to cut open a garage door.
Campbell said those efforts cleared enough smoke out of the building that firefighters could locate and extinguish the fire.
The blaze was contained to a portion of the building, according to Campbell.
Seth Hunt, Riddle Center’s acting safety director and special executive to the director, said the fire was a surprise.
“Fire prevention is a mainstay,” he explained.
Robarge said the center’s residents made furniture in the building.
Broughton police and the SBI are investigating the fire.
Campbell says Broughton has jurisdiction over center’s campus and the SBI generally assists in fire investigations at state facilities.
The Riddle Center, formerly the Western Carolina Center, is a residential care facility for adults with mental and physical disabilities. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services operates the Riddle Center.
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