THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 19, 1997 TAG: 9701200269
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 24 lines
The Red Cross is paying for temporary housing for residents of a Portsmouth duplex destroyed by fire late Friday, according to a family member of the victims.
Helen Branham said her son's family, which includes three children, had just paid their rent Friday when the fire struck their duplex at 8:20 p.m. in the 300 block of Mount Vernon Ave. in Port Norfolk. Branham lives nearby and was not affected by the fire, which apparently damaged only the duplex.
Firefighters battled extreme cold in bringing the blaze under control in about 30 minutes, but not before much of the duplex was destroyed.
``They got out with the clothes on their backs; everything else is gone,'' Branham said.
Portsmouth fire officials could not pinpoint the cause of the fire Friday and could not be reached Saturday.
But Branham said the fireplace was to blame, noting that some mortar had apparently broken off, allowing flames to escape.
KEYWORDS: FIRE