ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260077
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
Investigators suspect that a fire that killed 10 pets in a Southwest Roanoke duplex Thursday morning was set intentionally.
The fire began in a second-floor bedroom, near a bed, District Fire Chief Bev Mitchell said.
Investigators are unsure how the blaze, which caused about $15,000 in damage, started at 638 Marshall Ave. S.W.
Firefighters responded about 10:30 a.m. When they opened the front door of the duplex, they found a dog near the staircase.
The collie-shepherd mix was not breathing and did not have a pulse, Roanoke rescue worker Breck Hudson said. Hudson and his colleague Tim Harris revived the dog in a nearby ambulance. The animal was being housed Thursday night at the Roanoke Valley Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals' shelter.
Firefighters were unable to save eight other dogs and two cats. Investigators have not been able to talk to the tenants of the second-floor apartment, where the animals lived.
The fire was contained to the second floor, but the first-floor apartment also had water damage.
As firefighters doused the flames, a next-door neighbor, holding her infant son, ran from her house. Christi Bristol didn't stop running until she reached Campbell Avenue Southwest, where she waited for her husband.
"I kept smelling smoke ... and I kept hearing 'clang, clang,' and I looked outside, and I saw flames meet me outside the window," said Bristol, who lives at 640 Marshall.
Kenneth Bristol was driving a tow truck on Virginia 24, near Vinton, when he got the call from his wife and rushed home.
"I broke speed limits in that tow truck," he said, wrapping his arms around his wife and 4-month-old son. "I'm just glad you guys are OK."
Hours before the fire, animal control officers had responded to a call at the second-floor apartment. Someone had complained about an odor coming from the house. Officers found three adult dogs, eight puppies and four cats in good condition, animal control officer Mike Quesenberry said.
But officers did cite one of the tenants, Laura Robinson, for two violations: failing to vaccinate her cats and failing to buy licenses for her dogs.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. The Thursday-morning second-storyby CNBfire on Marshall Avenue in Southwest Roanoke killed eight dogs and
two cats. Water damaged the first-floor apartment. KEYWORDS: FATALITY