ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, February 10, 1996            TAG: 9602120023
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-4  EDITION: METRO 

3 ESCAPE FIRE IN SOUTHEAST ROANOKE

LENGTH: Short :   26 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  DON PETERSEN/Staff. Fire damaged a Southeast Roanoke 
          home early Friday, but a mother and two children escaped unharmed 
          after hearing the alarm from their smoke detector, fire 
          investigators said. Angela Babbitt awoke in her home at 1222 
          Tompkins Ave. S.E. about 2 a.m., according to District 1 Fire Chief 
          Phillip Taylor. Babbitt lowered her two daughters, ages 2 and 3, 
          from a first-floor bedroom window, then followed them. Taylor said 
          the fire began in the kitchen as the result of an electrical short. 
          The house sustained about $10,000 in damage.  Babbitt's home was the
          site of a cross-burning Jan. 20 that at first was thought to be 
          racially motivated. But the residents later told police the cross 
          was burned over a neighborhood dispute. Roanoke police Maj. J.L. 
          Viar said the cross-burning is considered a hate crime and is still 
          being investigated.