Firefighters were able to douse a burning, century-old home on Ford Road from all four sides Wednesday but could not get to the heart of the flames that had quickly spread from a stove top into the attic. The battle was waged over the course of several hours but the home was a total loss. A family of four was displaced. (Ledger photo / TIM GULLA) A grease fire was blamed for destroying a Ford Road home on Wednesday when stove top flames quickly spread into an attic.

Chief Rick Peterson of the DMW Fire Department said he had all he could ask for in terms of personnel and a water source.

“We put water on it from all four sides,” he said. “Water wasn’t an issue. The issue was you couldn’t get the water to the fire.”

The fire broke out around 2 p.m. Wednesday and firefighters ended up spending about six hours at the scene in the 1700 block of Ford Road.

Peterson said the fire broke out on a stove top and quickly spread upward into the attic.

The home was estimated to be about 100 years old. It was clad in wood shingles and had several layers of asphalt shingles on the roof, which served as fuel for the fire.

“After 30 to 40 years, you have pretty much zero moisture in the wood and it didn’t take anything to ignite it,” Peterson said.

Peterson had not yet had a chance to talk with the occupants of the home when interviewed.

The American Red Cross immediately sent disaster responders to the scene. Two adults and two children who lived in the home were offered immediate emergency needs, including temporary shelter, said Kelly Stafford, emergency services director for the Piedmont Chapter of The American Red Cross.

While some items within the home might be salvageable, Peterson said the structure was a total loss and everything inside sustained at least heat and smoke damage.

“Even if you had one family picture, that means a lot sometimes,” Peterson said.

While the fire was extinguished within two hours, the fire continued to smoke and firefighters stayed at the scene to deal with any hot spots.

In addition to DMW, firefighters from the Corinth Fire Departments and Gaffney Fire Departments East Gaffney Fire Station responded to the scene.