ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 20, 1997 TAG: 9701200069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
NO ONE WAS seriously injured in the fire, which caused about $35,000 in damages.
A young Garden City couple worried about fireplace smoke hurting their 12-week-old son decided late Saturday to spend the night with the child's grandparents.
Little did they know, a fire chief said Sunday, that an unseen fire, apparently smoldering in a wall or the flooring near the fireplace, would gut the house a few hours later.
Preston Barker said he thought Saturday night's irksome smoke resulted from high winds blowing down the chimney. He saw no need to call the Fire Department.
Barker, his fiancee Lori Tanner and their son Cole moved around 10:30p.m. to Barker's father's home nearby, figuring the smoke would clear overnight.
Late Sunday morning a red-eyed Barker peered in at the charred interior of his home at 3317 Ventnor Road S.E. The couple's basset hound, Sam, died in the fire. One of their cats, Tabitha, was missing. Alex, the other one, was too scared to come out of the bushes. Most of their belongings were destroyed.
Barker said he returned to the house around midnight to make sure things were all right. "The smoke seemed like it was just about gone,'' and the fireplace was out.
He returned to his father's house. At 5a.m. they got the call that the Ventnor house was on fire.
Roanoke Fire Chief Thomas Tyree said the fire is under investigation. Damage to the small, one-story house owned by Norman Barker, Preston Barker's father, is estimated at $35,000. An unidentified person who didn't know the family was gone cut a hand knocking on windows.
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB