DATE: Wednesday, November 5, 1997           TAG: 9711050459

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY CINDY CLAYTON, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   96 lines

FIRE KILLS MOM, TWO CHILDRENWIRING IN NORFOLK HOME STARTED BLAZE; NO BATTERY IN SMOKE DETECTOR, OFFICIALS SAY. HEAT, SMOKE STOP RESCUE ATTEMPTS BY FAMILY, NEIGHBORS

Rollie Dutton's wife woke him and told him their house was on fire. He knew that his sister-in-law, Melissa Dutton, and her two children were sleeping upstairs.

About the same time, Melissa's husband, Robert, came home and saw the fire consuming the garage and spreading up the back of the house. He knew his family was inside and tried to enter the garage from the outside. But the blaze was too hot and the roof was starting to collapse.

Rescue efforts by the Dutton brothers and several neighbors were futile late Monday night. Melissa Dutton, 20, her 3-month-old daughter, Samantha, and her 18-month-old stepson, Andrew, all died in the fire that destroyed the two-story Cape Cod in the North Fox Hall neighborhood.

Officials said the fire in the 2500 block of Woolsey Street was caused by faulty wiring.

The house had one smoke detector, but the battery was missing, said Jack Goldhorn, spokesman for Norfolk Fire and Paramedical Services. Fire officials said that if the device had had a battery, everyone may have gotten out of the house safely.

Robert and Melissa Dutton, who married in September, were using the attic, where she and the children died, as a bedroom.

``My wife, she smelled some smoke and she got me up,'' Rollie Dutton said Tuesday afternoon. ``I went to the garage. . . it was on fire. . . I couldn't even get in.''

He, his wife and their two sons lived on the first floor of the rented house. They escaped the fire unharmed.

Several neighbors tried to get into the garage to rescue the mother and children but were turned back by flames.

``I was sitting in my chair and saw a flash through the (living room) window,'' said Marcus Joyner, who lives across the street. Joyner said he ran over and opened the garage door but couldn't get past the flames.

Firefighters received the call at 11:35 p.m. and arrived four minutes later, said Jack Goldhorn, spokesman for Norfolk Fire and Paramedical Services.

Firefighters had the blaze under control in about 15 minutes, Goldhorn said. The firefighters who found Melissa Dutton said she was holding one of the children in her arms.

Firefighters were visibly shaken after discovering the victims. Several stood grim-faced in the glow of red flashing lights in the early morning hours Tuesday.

The victims died of smoke inhalation, Goldhorn said.

A clinical psychologist from the city's mental-health service was called to the scene of the fire to counsel firefighters about what they had experienced. A debriefing was held for them later Tuesday.

``It's difficult for our staff to take,'' said Donald Haupt Jr., director of Fire and Paramedical Services. ``You don't want to lose anybody.''

Volunteers from the Red Cross counseled the Dutton brothers and other family members at the scene.

Joyner, the neighbor, said he talked to Robert Dutton, who was unavailable for comment, later in the day. ``He was sad, but he was steady,'' Joyner said. ``He seemed to be taking it all in stride.''

This year, seven people have died in fires in Norfolk, four of them children.

``Every fire death we have had this year, in all cases, not one had a working smoke detector,'' Goldhorn said.

In Monday night's fire, damage to the house and contents was estimated at $75,000. The Duttons apparently had no insurance.

Because they lost everything in the blaze, the family received vouchers they could exchange for food and clothing at local stores.

Charlie Britt, a neighbor and retired fire captain, took the five surviving family members in for the night. He said the Duttons would probably stay with him until they could find another place to live.

On Tuesday afternoon, Rollie Dutton's two small boys seemed oblivious to the tragedy as they played with toy dinosaurs and a red wagon with other neighborhood children on Britt's front porch.

Britt said he reared three children in his Woolsey Street home and often baby-sits neighbors' children.

He said he moved to the crape myrtle-lined street in the late 1950s, before the street was paved. Since then, he said, he has known most of the people who have lived there. He befriended Rollie Dutton and his wife when they moved in nearly two years ago.

``We're real close out here. . . like family,'' Britt said. ``We're just trying to do what we can to help.''

Anyone wishing to make a contribution to the Red Cross to offset the costs of helping the family can call 446-7753. MEMO: Staff writer Larry W. Brown contributed to this story. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

MARK MITCHELL

The Virginian-Pilot

Damage to the house at 2450 Woolsey St. and its contents was

estimated at $75,000 after Monday night's fire.

VP Map KEYWORDS: FIRE FATALITIES

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