Rockwell Rural Fire Department eventually found a fire smoldering under the house of a Rowan County emergency leader early Sunday morning. Firefighters cut a mole in the kitchen floor to locate the fire. Photos courtesy Rockwell Rural Fire

It’s always all hands on deck when firefighters for any department are called to help put out a fire, but when it’s one of the department’s own, there is admittedly even more urgency.

On Sunday morning about 4:30 a.m., the overnight crews at Rockwell Rural Fire Department were paged on a report of a possible structure fire in the home of one of their own.

When firefighters arrived, they found moderate smoke conditions on three sides of the home. Protocol meant they went into the house and began to search for the source of the smoke. After about 20 min

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