A home owned by NASCAR star Denny Hamlin burned down on Sunday night, with the local fire department confirming that two people were taken to hospital for possible smoke inhalation.
Chief David Toomey of the Lucia Riverbend Fire Department told media that the fire was reported at 6:19pm ET, with both of the hospitalised individuals already out of the house when the fire department arrived. He did not name the pair.
Neighbours confirmed to WSOC-TV that Hamlin's parents live at the property in Stanley, NC, although Toomey declined to answer when that was put to him directly.
It took around two hours to get the blaze under control, complicated by the fact that the part of Stanley in question has no fire hydrants.
Fire chief: House was half on fire when we arrived
Speaking after the fire had been brought under control, the fire chief told WSOC-TV: “Well this house was about 40-45% involved when we got here.
"Of course where we are located there are no hydrants, so all the water had to be trucked in and there were times we would run out of water and we had to wait for more water to get here. We had to call for more, additional tankers throughout the county.”
He also told The Athletic: “They had some really expensive cars in the garage and some racing memorabilia and stuff, so all that was saved. We were able to save all that and get it out so it wasn’t damaged.”
Hamlin is currently gearing up for another run at the NASCAR Cup Series title in 2026, after coming within three laps of lifting the trophy for the first time in his career in 2025.
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