ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512260095
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: EGGLESTON
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER
Several firefighters had to be carried out of a home engulfed by flames in a mountainous area of Giles County on Saturday.
Roger Simpkins Jr. and his father, Roger Simpkins Sr., both members of the Eggleston Fire Department, were among the first to arrive on the scene after the fire was reported about 8 a.m.
The younger Simpkins had to help his father back out of the building, after they had gone in to determine where the fire was.
"I wasn't going to let him go in there by himself," Simpkins Jr. said. The fire apparently was in the basement, he said, but by the time they found that out, the entire home was in flames.
Simpkins Jr. said the structure was hot and smoky, and several other firefighters were exhausted or had trouble breathing and had to be carried out. "Every time someone would go in, we had to drag them out," he said.
He was not sure how many people lived in the home.
The fire, which was hard to reach because of the terrain, was in the Trigg area of the county off Virginia 100 and Virginia 622 near Eggleston. Firefighters still were cooling off hot spots late Saturday afternoon.
Units from Pearisburg, Pembroke, Poplar Hill and Parrott were among those joining the Eggleston firefighters.
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB