Jeff Davis photo

Siler City firemen battle a blaze at a home on Fellowship Church Road near Siler City Tuesday morning. The fire was called in at around 9 a.m. and Silk Hope Fire Department was called in as mutual aid to help put the fire out. Three residents in the home escaped the fire that gutted and destroyed the home.

By Randall Rigsbee

Fire destroyed a double-wide mobile home in Siler City Tuesday morning while its three occupants – one of them a young boy - escaped without injury.

Thick black smoke was visible on the Siler City skyline shortly after fire broke out at the residence on Fellowship Church Road shortly after 8 a.m.

“We got out quick,” said Crystal McSwain, one of three residents who lived in the home.

McSwain said she had no idea what caused the fire, or where it originated.

“All I remember is the lights flickered and then I went back to sleep,” she said. “The last thing I remember, my sister was awake and she said the house was on fire. Then we got out.”

Crystal, along with her 2-year-old son, Christian McClennon, and her sister, Kimberly McSwain, all escaped from the burning structure unharmed.

“Everybody got out,” she said. “We were lucky.

Clutching her son, who still dressed for sleep and was wrapped in a blanket against the chill of the morning air, Crystal was comforted by friends and neighbors as she stood at a neighbors house as firefighters doused the smoldering remains of the residence next door.

more- See Thursday, March 25 paper: Vol 84, No. 17

By Randall Rigsbee

In January, Chatham County commissioners approved a plan to sell part of the county-owned industrial property behind Wal-Mart near Siler City and use the proceeds from the sale to develop infrastructure.

Now, county officials have begun tackling the detailed work of making that plan a reality.

The county aims to sell 250 acres of the 457-acre industrial property, which Chatham purchased for $1.4 million in March 2000.

The property has remained unused and undeveloped since then, though county officials hope that will change soon.

The plan is to sell 250 acres to buyers who agree to develop the property for industrial use, at a cost of around $16,000 per acre.

With the money from the sale, the county will develop infrastructure, which economic development officials say is a crucial component in making the property attractive to prospective investors.

The county plans to retain 100 acres, which it could sell to an industry or off at no or reduced cost as further incentive.