Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993 TAG: 9305140203
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: STEPHEN FOSTER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"It's not as horrible as we thought it was," said Brizzolara, an Electrolux salesman who moved to Roanoke with his wife, Lynne, less than a year ago. "From thinking we had 100 percent loss and one pair of underwear . . . we've got lots of underwear."
Roanoke County Fire Marshal Don Gillispie confirmed Thursday that lightning started the fire that caused $500,000 to $600,000 damage and led to 10 units being condemned. No one was seriously injured.
Seven families - 16 people - were displaced when a bolt struck the apex of the roof on Building G, and fire spread to the outside walls through the attic, Gillispie said. Three of the units were vacant.
Brizzolara, whose daughter now is housing him and his wife, said he was able to salvage much of their clothing, kitchenware, some photos that were in a trunk and a 39-year-old collection of recipes. Lynne Brizzolara rescued the family's two felines.
"You can't replace that kind of stuff," he said. "We found a camera, which strangely enough was still working, so I shot the rest of the roll," taking photos of the damage, he said.
Their apartment was on the top floor, where the fire caused the worst damage and burned through the roof before firefighters were able to extinguish it an hour after it began.
"There isn't a stick of furniture we can use," he said. Other items, like old books, photos that were left out, crystal bells and cut glass fell victim to the blaze.
Apartment complex manager Maxine Alls said two of the displaced families had been placed in other apartments in the complex Thursday, and two more were to be placed this weekend. Two other families were considering their options.
Alls said she was unable to find an apartment for a man who uses a wheelchair and for his daughter, but that a nearby complex had offered them a unit.
There were no lightning rods on the building, and Gillispie said pine trees may have helped draw the bolt. One witness in another building told Gillispie that it was "a strange bolt of lightning . . . said it looked like it just stayed there for a brief period," he said.
There's probably no way to prevent lightning from hitting a building, he said. "If it's going to happen, it's going to happen.
"Every summer we'll have one or two . . . hit houses," Gillispie said. A bolt struck a church steeple in Vinton during a thunderstorm Sunday, but firefighters controlled that blaze quickly.
Alls said the complex is waiting to hear from its insurance company and a contractor before beginning reconstruction. None of the renters was insured.
"We've all been lucky, but I'm sure those people don't feel very lucky right now," Alls said.
Brizzolara said his family would be back trying to salvage what they could today, before rain damaged it anymore.
"It's just one of those occurences that nature had its way," Gillispie said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.