DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997               TAG: 9704050230

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY STEVE STONE, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   35 lines

OPEN KITCHEN OVEN CONTRIBUTED TO FATAL FIRE, INVESTIGATORS SAY

A fire that killed two children and left their grandmother in a burn trauma unit was sparked by combustibles left near an open oven that was apparently being used to heat the Berkley home, investigators said Friday.

``The oven door was open and the control knobs were on,'' said Jack Goldhorn, a spokesman for the fire department.

He also said efforts by a resident to extinguish the blaze - before calling the fire department - may have contributed to the spread of the fire.

Jerome Bryant, 5, and his brother, Morris, 3, died when flames raced through the home in the 500 block of Appomattox St., at Lunenburg St., on Tuesday.

The boys' grandmother, Virginia Bryant, suffered second-degree burns as she tried to fight the fire that threatened her grandsons, who were upstairs. The fire started at about 1:15 a.m.

Firefighters arrived at the scene about three minutes after they were called, but by that time flames had engulfed the structure.

Firefighters extended a ladder to the second floor in an effort to get to the boys, but they were driven back by the flames.

The fire was brought under control in about 23 minutes. The home was destroyed.

Virginia Bryant was listed in stable condition Friday night at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital, where she is being treated for burns to her hands and arms.

There was no smoke detector in the home. In the wake of the blaze, the fire department has mounted a strong effort to get residents to install detectors or, where they are in place, make certain they are working. KEYWORDS: FIRE FATALITY

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