Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 17, 1994 TAG: 9401170051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
To add to the situation, cold weather can contribute to fires when electrical systems are taxed to provide heat, or when other kinds of heating implements are used without sufficient caution.
In Roanoke, fire hoses had to be stacked - instead of rolled - onto trucks because they froze while lying on the ground after firefighters extinguished a blaze at a home in the 2000 block of Moorman Avenue Northwest.
"[The hoses] froze shut in a short amount of time," said District Fire Chief James Patton. "The cold doesn't stop us from putting fires out, but it does give us other problems."
Those other problems included thawing the hoses. Patton said firefighters were using kerosene blowers to try and do the job Saturday night.
The Moorman Avenue blaze was caused when a kerosene heater next to a couch caught the couch on fire. No one was inside the house and Patton was trying to locate the owner Saturday night.
In Floyd County, firefighters on Saturday tried to save two homes after blazes broke out.
The Floyd County Sheriff's Department said preliminary information on the first fire, reported at 6:05 a.m., was that it started from an electrical problem.
Both fires involved homes about two miles from Floyd near Virginia 710. The second fire was reported shortly before 1:30 p.m. Its cause was not immediately known, but one firefighter was injured.
Volunteer firefighter Sammy Vest was treated at Radford Community Hospital for smoke inhalation.
Staff writers Laurence Hammack and Paul Dellinger contributed information to this story.
by CNB