Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 8, 1995 TAG: 9501090077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"That porch I just built is about the only thing still standing," he said to his wife, Suzie. "See, honey? I told you I could build a porch built to stay."
The couple and their 4-year-old son, Brent, were returning home from dinner at Suzie's mother's house when they saw flames shooting up from their hillside home on Butternut Road.
By the time firefighters managed to hook up hoses to a pond and carry them up the steep land that overlooks the Fort Mason area along Cotton Hill Road, the house was engulfed.
The hardwood floors and cathedral ceilings Jax Ring had been working on painstakingly since they moved in eight years ago burned in minutes. A front wall collapsed, sending firefighters scattering and shooting sparks high into the cold night air.
Only the brick fireplace stood on the left side of the aluminum-sided frame house. An ornate iron headboard stood charred in what was the Rings' bedroom.
``Just think if this had happened tonight, while we were asleep,'' Suzie Ring said.
The Rings, who both work for the U.S. Postal Service, had just bought a wood stove on Tuesday after they couldn't get their gas heating tanks filled.
"The only thing I could think would have started this is a flue fire," Jax Ring said, "but I can't say for sure."
Fire investigators were still trying to determine the cause of the fire late Saturday.
As the two walls still standing continued to smolder, Cave Spring and Clearbrook firefighters tried to avoid Brent Ring's Tonka trucks and plastic jungle gym.
"He doesn't quite understand what's happened," Jax Ring said. "He keeps asking about Miss Kitty."
Miss Kitty, their cat, was inside the house when the blaze started. Three of their six dogs stayed close to the Rings as they watched the fire.
"The others are here somewhere," Jax Ring said, "probably hiding in the woods."
This is the second time this week the Ring family has been affected by fire. Monday, his mother - a manager for the Valley View Village apartment building - watched much of the complex destroyed by a fire started when a child was playing with a lighter.
Ring said they plan to stay at his mother-in-law's home for the night. After that, he didn't want to think about it.
"I guess we'll rebuild. Of course, I can't pay for anything - my checks were in there," he laughed.
"Well, about all I can do is smile - smile to keep from crying."
by CNB