ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, May 14, 1996 TAG: 9605140066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: |By BETTY HAYDEN SNIDER STAFF WRITER
Weather forecasters' calls for near record low temperatures in the 30s Monday night meant an almost full house for the Rescue Mission - especially with the Salvation Army shelter closed after a fire Monday morning.
The homeless shelter on Tazewell Avenue averages about 25 men a night during the warmer months of the year, but, by 9:30 p.m., 59 had signed up for a bed, according to counselor Terry Brown.
He said he expected more people would trickle in later. The shelter can accommodate about 80 comfortably in its transient division.
One man who stayed at the shelter, 20-year-old Roy Burton Jr., said he first went by the Salvation Army's Red Lodge Shelter for the Homeless on Salem Avenue. He slept there Saturday and Sunday nights, but a sign posted out front said it had been closed because of the fire.
The shelter caught fire about 11:30 a.m. When firefighters arrived, they saw only light smoke, District Chief Bobbie Slayton said.
Upon further investigation, they found that a room on the second floor was on fire, he said. Flames burned through the ceiling, but firefighters kept the fire out of the attic.
The day room sustained heavy smoke damage and Slayton estimated the total damages at $20,000. Firefighters don't know what caused the fire, but it doesn't appear to have been set intentionally, he said.
LENGTH: Short : 37 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: PAUL L. NEWBY II/Staff. Thomas Brown finally reaches theby CNBtable where Rescue Mission counselor Terry Brown is handing out
tickets for bedding Monday night. The shelter filled up quickly
because the Salvation Army shelter closed after a morning fire.