THE NEWS DESK
The News Desk is a collection of news, notes and breaking items affecting the Fredericksburg community.
Spotsylvania firefighters injured in storm-related house fire
MORE: Read more Spotsylvania County news
BY BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER
THE FREE LANCE-STAR
One Spotsylvania County firefighter remained hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries Saturday morning and another had been treated and released after they were hurt while putting out a house fire in the Lake Anna area Friday night.
Phil Sullivan, a spokesman for Spotsylvania County fire and rescue, said a couple lost power at their Valentine Woods home sometime before 11 p.m Friday. A fire started in a kitchen wall behind their stove.
The couple used an extinguisher to put out the flames, and they believed they had succeeded, Sullivan said. They tried to call 911, but couldn’t get through because of problems with the communications system.
Worried there still might be a fire danger, the couple decided to drive to the closest fire station, which is in Partlow. On the way, they met a firetruck with a crew that had been out responding to damage calls.
When they arrived at the couple’s home on Waddell Road, the fire had reignited and flames were shooting through the roof, Sullivan said.
While firefighters were attacking the fire, part of the roof collapsed, trapping a firefighter, Sullivan said. A mayday call was issued, and the firefighter was pulled out.
His shoulders were burned and he received other unspecified injuries, Sullivan said. He was still a patient at Mary Washington Hospital Saturday morning.
A second firefighter injured his hand, but he was released from the hospital earlier Saturday.
Sullivan said fire investigators are trying to pinpoint the cause of the fire, which destroyed the home, but he believes it was storm related.
County fire crews, who were answering storm calls all night and into the morning, had to fight a second house fire about three hours later and six miles away in another Lake Anna neighborhood, Sycamore Shoals.
Sullivan said no one was inside the vacation home when the fire started so officials aren’t sure when it started. A neighbor called 911 about 2 a.m.
When firefighters arrived, the home was engulfed in flames. It was destroyed.
Officials have not yet determined the value of the two homes.
