ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995 TAG: 9512040033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
A 22-month-old boy died Thursday in a Henry County house fire that investigators are calling suspicious.
Ethan Cole Kirkman was asleep in a baby bed on the second floor of his Bittersweet Drive home when a fire broke out in a first-floor bedroom, according to Henry County Fire Marshal Steve Eanes.
Eanes said the blaze started on top of a bed. He said investigators have determined that someone ignited the fire but noted that officials arenot sure if the fire was set accidentally or if it was arson.
The child's grandmother, Patricia W. Kirkman, 57, was inside the house before the fire started.
She was treated and released from Memorial Hospital in Martinsville on Thursday but voluntarily re-entered the hospital Friday for a mental health evaluation, according to officials.
Ethan Kirkman's parents, Colvin and Wanda Kirkman, were outside repairing an electrical fence near the home when the fire broke out.
The Kirkmans grabbed a ladder and pushed it up against a second-story window, but were unable to save their son, Eanes said.
The couple - who Eanes described as "very distraught" - also were treated and released from Memorial Hospital.
The fire was reported at 3 p.m. Thursday by a passing motorist.
Charges related to the fire had not been placed against anyone as of Friday afternoon.
Ethan Kirkman is the second person in Henry County to die in a fire this year.
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Henry County Fire Marshal Steve Eanes carries theby CNBbody of 22-month-old Ethan Kirkman, who was killed in a fire at his
Bittersweet Drive home Thursday. color. KEYWORDS: FATALITY