.jpg)
Three people were injured and a dog and a cat were lost in a house fire just off of U.S. 60 west of Lexington early last Wednesday morning.
One of those injured, a 28-year-old man, was flown by helicopter to VCU Medical Center in Richmond in critical condition following burns he received in the fire. The other two victims were transported to Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital with moderate injuries.
As of Tuesday, the 28-year-old man remained in the Richmond hospital, and his wife has since been admitted to the same hospital.
Samuel Corey, the owner of the house, who was living in a nearby RV, said the fire appar- ently started behind the wood stove. A family of three, the 28-year-old man, his wife and their daughter, were living in the small house Corey owned. A fourth person was living in an adjacent camper.
Corey said he was still in bed in his RV when he heard the man’s wife screaming his name and “fire.” Accompanied by his two dogs, Corey rushed into the house, grabbed a jug of water and threw it on the ceiling, which was already on fire.
Their efforts to extinguish the rapidly growing fire unsuccessful, everyone exited the house, with Corey trying to move nearby vehicles so they wouldn’t catch fire. Meanwhile, both the father and wife reentered the burning house. Corey said the wife had gone back in to rescue their pets, suffering burns on her back in the process. The family’s dog was rescued, but their cat died in the fire.
While he doesn’t know precisely why her husband reentered the house, Corey said his burns were so severe that his clothes had burned away by the time he returned outside. His wife moved her husband away from the house as everyone awaited the arrival of fire and rescue.
Once first responders arrived, the husband was flown to Richmond, while the wife, along with the man who had been staying in the camper, were taken to Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital, treated and released that day. That man had suffered a cut that required stitches. The daughter of the couple was unhurt. -Trent Roberts, deputy fire chief for Lexington, said his department was dispatched at 7:30 a.m. last Wednesday, and the house was fully involved when firefighters arrived. The house is located at 15 Vanderveer Lane, about two miles from Lexington, behind the former Kelly’s Corner store.
Firefighters from seven departments responded to the fire, with tanker trucks bringing water to the foot of the hill on U.S. 60 and a line run to a firetruck next to the scene. The structure collapsed shortly after the firefighters arrived, but no firefighters were inside the house, having determined that all of the residents were outside upon arrival. Firefighters were able to bring the fire under control within about 25 minutes, said Roberts. The only injury reported among the firefighters was some minor lacerations to one firefighter.
Firefighters were on the scene a total of about two hours. Responding departments included Lexington, Buena Vista, Effinger, Glasgow, Kerrs Creek, Natural Bridge and Rockbridge Baths, along with Virginia State Police, Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office and Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue.
The cause of the fire, Roberts said, is under investigation.
Two hours after the fire started, Corey was alone at the site of the fire, with one of his two dogs, Cuttie Girl, sitting in the mud nearby.
His other dog, her 7-yearold son, Bunny Boy, had been lost in the fire. The last time Corey had seen him was on the porch as he entered the house that morning. Both of his dogs were well-behaved, obedient dogs who followed him everywhere.
“He [Bunny Boy] must have thought I was still in the house,” said Corey, otherwise he would have probably followed him out of the burning house. In all of the confusion, he did not know the dog was still in there.
He pointed to the back of the house, where he had found his body. He said he was going to bury him in a little while.
In the meantime, Cuttie Girl seemed to sense something was wrong. “Normally, she wants to play fetch,” Corey said, as the dog just sat there looking up.
The Red Cross gave all of those involved some financial assistance so that they could stay temporarily in the nearby Rockbridge Inn, the former Keydet General.
Corey, who was helping shovel snow at the motel Tuesday morning, said his 28-year-old friend remains in an induced coma in Richmond but is improving. The man’s wife, while visiting her husband over the weekend, was admitted to the Richmond hospital, with doctors concerned about her burns.
