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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 4, 1993                   TAG: 9302040227
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LON WAGNER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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2ND MAN DIES IN FRANKLIN HOUSE FIRE

A second person has died as a result of a Tuesday morning house fire in Franklin County.

Michael Lynn King, 39, died late Tuesday at the University of Virginia Hospital's burn unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.

King was flown to Charlottesville on Tuesday morning along with James R. Flippen Jr., 31, who was in serious condition Wednesday.

Claude Webster, deputy director of public safety in Franklin County, said Wednesday that early findings from an investigation of the fire suggest it was accidental.

Webster said indications are that the fire was caused by a person who fell asleep while smoking.

The interior of the house was gutted by the 2 a.m. fire, but the living room - where Flippen and King were sleeping - was the most severely damaged part of the house.

Lisa Sells Patton, 28, who was taken to Roanoke Memorial Hospital, was listed in stable condition Wednesday.

Ronald David Godfrey, 39, who lived at the house with Patton, died in the fire.

Flippen apparently discovered the fire and got out of the house to phone for help.

"How many times do you hear people talk about the installation of fire alarms?" Webster said. "To my knowledge, they didn't have any there."

Keywords:
FATALITY

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