“We're thankful all the family was out,” said Anthony Copeland, whose father, Greg, lost his house in the 100 block of River Road North.

Greg Copeland and his daughter will be staying with Anthony, the son said as Roanoke Rapids firefighters did salvage and cleanup following the fire, which was called in shortly after 11:30 this morning.

Anthony said his father will need large work shirts, 36-30 pants and 9 ½ shoes. His daughter will need size 16 women's pants, extra-large shirts and 8 ½ shoes.

Further inquiries may be made by emailing Anthony at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Preliminary investigation, according to Roanoke Rapids Deputy Fire Chief Mike Clements, shows the cause as undetermined but not suspicious.

Heavy smoke and flames were pouring from the single-story house and were fueled by strong winds. No one was home at the time of the fire. The family did lose a pet cat.

Firefighters fought the blaze from the outside as the heavy fire compromised the safety of the house. The roof of the structure eventually collapsed.

It is unclear how long the fire had been burning before someone reported it, Clements said. “We feel like it had a good head start due to the amount of smoke.”

Clements said the origin of the fire is believed to be an enclosed porch area in the rear of the house.

Firefighters were at the scene for approximately 3 ½ hours.