ROANOKE TIMES  
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996              TAG: 9602260068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-4  EDITION: METRO  
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
      Published correction ran on March 9, 1996.
         Clarification
         A fire that damaged the Longwood Apartments in Vinton on Feb. 25 was 
      caused when the eye on a stove in one of the apartments was left on, 
      according to Roanoke County Fire Marshall Donald Gillispie. Vinton fire 
      officials first reported that food left on the stove had ignited. 
      Gillispie, however, said his investigation had determined that no food 
      was left on the stove.

NO ONE INJURED DURING VINTON APARTMENT FIRE BLAZE'S CAUSE TRACED TO STOVE

Residents of Longwood Apartments were lucky to escape injury in a fire that started early Sunday when food was left unattended on a stove, said Vinton Fire Chief Barry Fuqua

Firefighters responded to a call about 3:45 a.m. at the apartment complex at Seventh Street and Vale Avenue, he said.

Food that was left cooking on a stove about 1 a.m. ignited and caught the cabinets above the stove on fire. The residents of the ground-floor apartment, two women and a baby, awoke and smelled the smoke, Fuqua said.

``I think the people were very lucky,'' Fuqua said.

The chief credited police officers who knocked on residents' doors with helping to evacuate the 12-unit complex. The fire caused smoke damage throughout the building, but most residents were allowed back in their apartments that morning.

Fuqua said smoke detectors were in the apartment complex, but not one was working.

``There's no [building] code to require smoke detectors in a building that old,'' he said when asked if the faulty detectors could lead to charges against the property owner.

Damage estimates were not available. Fuqua said the fire was confined to the kitchen and living room area of the apartment where the fire started.

- STAFF REPORT

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