ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, February 19, 1997           TAG: 9702190112
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-5  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER

FIRE LEAVES FAMILY HOMELESS

A Botetourt County family lost its home Tuesday afternoon in a fire that apparently began while the couple and their three children were away at work and school.

At least two firefighters were treated for heat exhaustion after they scoured the one-story brick ranch home at 3758 Rainbow Forest Drive looking for anyone trapped inside. Neighbors had told firefighters that the children might be inside, but Charles and Nancy Brenneman and their three children were all safe.

"I just tried to get in," gasped Daniel Cimini, a member of the Blue Ridge Volunteer Fire Department who was being given oxygen at the scene of the fire. "They told us the kids are in there."

Neighbors said the fire broke through the roof in the part of the house where there was a wood stove, but Lt. Barton Sweeney of the Blue Ridge fire company said determining the cause of the fire would require further investigation.

He said there was fire damage throughout the house, but most was concentrated in one half of the building, with heat and smoke destroying most of the furnishings not touched by the flames.

Nancy Brenneman said her family had fire insurance. She said their cat and dog were inside the house when she left for work.

"They can't have lived through that," she said, staring at the blackened building which lost half of its roof in the blaze. "The whole yard is scorched."

Sweeney said only the body of the cat had been recovered. He said firefighters were able to pull a few photographs from the house before they could be ruined by the heat.

The fire was discovered by a neighbor, Vivian Poff, at approximately 1:15 p.m. "I just came outside, and there was a lot of smoke, and it was a different smell than a brush fire," she said.

Most of the flames had been contained within an hour. Nine fire engines and rescue squads responded to the call from Blue Ridge, Read Mountain and Troutville. Sweeney estimated there were about 30 emergency workers at the scene, but he said the timing of the fire put stress on the volunteers.

"We had to really use the few we had pretty good," he said.

Nancy Brenneman said anyone wanting to assist her family could call the Rescue Mission of Roanoke, where she works, at 343-7227.

LENGTH: Short :   49 lines