Monday morning March 4th, 2013 at 12:07am, St. Stephens Fire Department was dispatched to a possible structure fire at Lake Hickory RV Resort. Lake Hickory RV Resort is a family oriented campground located on the waterfront of Lake Hickory. Lake Hickory RV resort has over 200 camping sites on approx. 23 acres and some sites are used as permanent residence. Nearly every camper has a min of 30lb. propane tanks and nearly half of the camp sites have 220 gal. propane tanks.
The initial report given from the communication center was possible several campers involved with fire. First units arriving on the scene confirmed a fully involved structure fire involving a camper used as a fixed residence. Firefighters were met with heavy fire from the camper which was beginning to impinge on another camper in close proximity. Hazards the firefighters on the scene encountered were close exposures to other campers, live power lines down at the location of the camper involved with fire, and propane cylinders in close proximity to the fire that are used for the campers supply. The live power line hazard resulted in an extended control time of 28 minutes. The fire was extinguished with the fire being contained to the camper initially involved which suffered a complete loss. Neighboring campers escaped with only heat damage.
Station 4 had a total of 17 personal on the scene and four fire apparatus with a total response time of five minutes. Oxford Fire was requested and responded with a tanker for additional water supply due to the hazards of multiple exposures. Catawba County EMS and Claremont Rescue responded for firefighter rehab and medical stand-by. Duke Energy was notified and was expedited due to the power line hazard which was affecting firefighter safety and the fire suppression efforts. The Catawba County Fire Marshalls Office was notified and responded to assist with the investigation. No injuries reported from emergency personnel, homeowners, or by-standers. Emergency personnel remained on the scene for two hours.
