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22 migrant workers escape Candler house fire
Investigators seeking cause of blaze
BY CLARKE MORRISON
CANDLER
— Twenty-two people living in a house for migrant farmworkers escaped an
early morning fire unharmed, authorities said Tuesday.
The blaze destroyed the split-level home at the intersection of
The fire broke out about
“It's a total loss,” Trotter said. The residents “all got out safely.
They just woke up and smelled smoke.”
Frank Whetstine, who manages a mobile home park across
Their trucks have
“They would always come in in the evening with boxes of tomatoes loaded
on a truck,” Whetstine said. “It was a whole bunch of people. They never
did bother anybody.”
Jeff Tracz, an investigator with the Asheville-Buncombe Arson Task
Force, confirmed the residents are migrant workers who pick produce at
farms in the area.
A family of five that included adolescents and 17 people of working age
lived in the house, Mountain Area Red Cross spokesman Steve Dykes said.
Tracz said all the adults he checked with have
“It's basically a place for their people to come and go and have a place
to stay,” he said.
“They leave early in the morning, and they come back at night.”
Tracz said the number of residents isn't pertinent to his investigation
of the fire.
He said he's attempting to contact the owner of the property, who lives
in
A Red Cross disaster assistance team went to the scene to help residents
and find them a motel.
“They have lost everything,” said Bob Hvitfeldt, a volunteer with the
Red Cross. “The house and the contents are a total loss.
“We'll put them up for a few days, and we'll help them secure food and
clothing,” he said.
Tracz said the fire appears to have started on the back porch, but it's
too early in the investigation to know if it was set intentionally.
Investigators had yet to find a smoke detector, he said.
The house had been added on to, and it appeared people were living in
the garage area.
Residents contacted outside the house Tuesday morning said they could
not speak English.
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