Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
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204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
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This home at 8 Peters St. in Martinsville was destroyed by fire Saturday morning. Martinsville Fire Department investigators are not sure what caused the blaze. Luckily, they said, the two adults and two children who were inside escaped without injury. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
By DEBBIE HALL - Bulletin Staff Writer
The cause of a blaze that destroyed a city home Saturday remains undetermined.
The two children and two adults who were renting the house at 8 Peters St. escaped without harm, officials said.
“We were very fortunate no one was hurt or killed,” Martinsville Fire Marshal Ted Anderson said of the fire, which was reported at 6:16 a.m. Saturday.
Sherry Woody and her boyfriend, along with two children aged 11 and 14, were in the home sleeping when the fire was discovered.
Woody, who was in the master bedroom, said Tuesday she “started coughing real bad” while she was asleep. “My throat was burning. Apparently, that’s what woke me up.”
She soon realized she could smell smoke, and she roused her boyfriend.
The door to the master bedroom had been closed when the fire broke out, Anderson said. A smoke alarm in the bedroom did not alert the residents, he said, speculating that the amount of smoke needed to trigger the alarm did not get into the room because the door was closed.
Woody’s partner opened the master bedroom door, walked down the hall and “went to the back room where the babies were,” Woody said. “The whole room was engulfed.”
Her boyfriend “kicked the door in,” roused the youngsters and “walked with them in a stooped like position” outside to safety, Woody said, adding she was waiting outside with the family’s two dogs.
“This was a pretty significant fire, especially in the city, where people normally notice” a blaze and summon firefighters before the fire “gets this far ahead of us,” Anderson said.
“It was evident from the burn pattern the fire had been burning for quite some time,” he said, and added the family was “lucky that they had the bedroom door closed.”
Anderson said fire officials recommend closing interior doors, such as those in bedrooms, to help prevent fires from spreading.
He also said residents, and firefighters trying to contain the blaze, were fortunate to escape without injury.
“The family basically got out with the clothes on their backs,” Anderson said. Everything else was destroyed, he said.
Martinsville Fire Chief Kenneth Draper said property valued at $11,800 and contents valued at $10,000 were lost in the fire.
When the first firefighters arrived at the scene at 6:20, four minutes after the call came in, the house “was already fully involved” with flames showing through the roof, Draper said.
The blaze was under control by 7:10 a.m., and the last unit cleared the scene about 9, Draper added.
Collinsville Volunteer Fire Department and Stone Ambulance Service also responded, he said.
Fire investigators have determined the blaze started in the back room, but its cause is “not definitive ... I can’t say with 100 percent certainty,” Anderson said.
The fire is not believed to be suspicious, he added.
Sharon Held, executive director of the local American Red Cross Chapter, said the family is staying in the Jameson Inn. In addition to helping house the family, the Red Cross also gave them vouchers for clothing and other supplies and will pay the first month’s rent on a new home, Held said.
A church and an anonymous donor also have helped pay for the family to spend additional nights in the hotel and get other supplies, Held said.
Woody said she had been “out in the rain” Tuesday, looking for a new place to live. Because the children are enrolled in city schools, Woody said the family hopes to find a place in Martinsville.
So far, her search has been unsuccessful.
The family did not have insurance, she said, adding many things still are needed.
Donations may be dropped off at the Jameson Inn, where the family will remain until Thursday, Woody said.
After that, donations may be left at Mt. Sinai Church at 7 Peters St., she said.
“People have been dropping off things ... We’ve been blessed,” Woody said. |
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