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

DATE: THURSDAY, January 5, 1995                   TAG: 9501050064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

FIRE KILLS NURSE'S AIDE, DAUGHTER, 9

After working a month and a half of late shifts, nurse's aide Rachel Burks of Clifton Forge was looking forward to Wednesday. It was supposed to be her day off.

"Working 3 to 11, she didn't get to spend a lot of quality time with her daughter, so she told all the girls she couldn't wait until today," said Linda Morgan, Burks' supervisor at the Liberty House Nursing Home.

But Burks never got to spend that quality time.

An early-morning blaze destroyed her home on County Road, killing Burks, 41, and her daughter, Natasha Eligh Burks, 9. Their bodies were found on the first floor.

Clifton Forge Police Chief Barry Balser said the Police Department got a call about 2:30 a.m. from one of Burks' neighbors reporting that the older, two-story, wood-frame house was burning.

From the police station's parking lot, an officer could see the fire in its early stages, Balser said.

"He said it looked like Christmas lights; there was just a twinkle," Balser said. "When he got there, he couldn't get inside."

The Fire Department arrived minutes later, but firefighters were unable to rescue the mother and child.

They found them near an old, oil-burning furnace that had been filled with about 254 gallons of oil Tuesday, Balser said. There also was a kerosene heater in the house.

Investigators have not determined the cause of the blaze.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB