NOTTOWAY COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A child was reportedly killed in a fire in Blackstone, Nottoway, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Blackstone Volunteer Fire Department addressed the incident in a Facebook post on Monday.
“As an organization, we are deeply saddened by the loss of life that occurred yesterday afternoon at a residential structure fire on Luke Street,” the Facebook post reads. “Anytime there is a loss of life we all have extended emotions, this emotion surges when that loss of life is a child. “
According to the Blackstone Fire Department, fire crews receieved a call for a reported structure fire at the Luke Street location at 12:10 p.m.
“We have noticed some heated discussions on Facebook and have also been contacted by media stations concerning our response,” the Facebook post continues. “I would like to take this opportunity to provide actual data and truth pertaining to our response yesterday.”
The timeline below records the time taken from the initial call at 12:10 p.m.:
- 0:27 First Officer is marked en route to the station
- 1:29 Sergeant is marked en route to the scene
- 3:14 Sergeant is marked on location and established command
- 4:21 Engine-3 is marked en route with a full crew
- 5:12 Engine-5 is marked en route with a crew of four
- 7:18 Engine-5 marked on-scene
According to the Fire Department, their first fire engine, Engine-3, did not mark itself on-scene but did arrive before Engine-5 to establish a water supply.
“FEMA has a response standard for Career departments to have an Engine on scene within 4 minutes from dispatch. These are departments that have members in quarters and waiting for an emergency. We are an all-VOLUNTEER agency and all of us responded from home, majority living outside of the Town of Blackstone, drove to the station, donned our gear, jumped on a fire truck and responded to the scene,” the Facebook post concludes, “While we all wish we could have been there sooner, and able so save a child’s life, we did our best to provide a timely response. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire family affected by this tragedy.”
8News reached out to both the Blackstone Volunteer Fire Department and the Nottoway County Sheriff’s Office for comment but have not received a reply at the time of this reporting.
