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Balsam blacksmith shop is destroyed by blaze
By Carey Phillips
A blacksmith shop off of U.S. 23-74 near Balsam was destroyed by fire Sunday (March 27) night.
The shop was owned by David Burress and located on Hebron Lane, according to Johnny Nicholson, chief of the Balsam Fire Department.
The structure was fully involved when fire fighters arrived, Nicholson said. The glow from the blaze could be seen from Ochre Hill, he added.
The building contained oxygen and acetylene tanks, said Nicholson, who indicated the blaze was believed to be electrical in nature.
“We had all kinds of explosions in it,” he said.
Burress lives about 100 yards from the shop and had been working there in the afternoon, Nicholson said.
Fire departments from Sylva and Cullowhee provided mutual aide as did the Saunooke Fire Department from Haywood County.
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