Building blaze far from water brings out 4 Durham fire departments

A fire in an abandoned house on an isolated road on the south side of Durham tied up firefighters from four departments Friday morning as they kept the blaze from turning into a woods fire and spreading.

The fire was already raging in the house when Durham city firefighters arrived after a 5:12 a.m. alarm, Deputy Chief Chris Iannuzzi said.

Because the house was about 2,000 feet from the nearest fire hydrant on Cook Road, tankers from Durham County Fire-Rescue, the Lebanon Volunteer Fire Department and the Redwood Volunteer Fire Department had to set up a shuttle between the water and the fire, Iannuzzi said.

Officials also called in North Carolina Forest Service because of the risk to surrounding woodlands.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, Iannuzzi said.

Some firefighters remained on the scene through mid-morning.

This story was originally published April 21, 2017 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Building blaze far from water brings out 4 Durham fire departments."