CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — Days before the Christmas holiday, a family of three, along with their dog, were displaced after a fire tore through their home.
Chesterfield Fire and EMS officials told 8News crews were dispatched to the 9000 block of South Boones Trail Road at 3:31 a.m. on Thursday morning and arrived on scene at 3:43 a.m.
Battalion Chief Mark Berry said the fire began in a shed attached to the home before spreading to the second floor and into the attic area.
8News spoke with one of the homeowners and they say they are distraught but thankful everyone was able to evacuate safely.
Battalion Chief Berry said the working smoke alarm in the home alerted residents to the fire, they then heard crackling noises and saw the fire coming from the shed. It was then that the family was able to evacuate.
“Without a working smoke detector in multiple levels of your home and multiple rooms, you know, they may not have been alerted and you could have had a different outcome,” Berry said.
Ayesha Noble lives right across the street of the displaced family and says this is not the first fire to happen in the neighborhood, but rather the third.
“I worry that there’s something, maybe electrical, going on,” Noble said. “I’ve never been in a neighborhood where there’s been this many issues that have popped up. You know, it definitely is worrisome for sure.”
Residents living right next door spoke with 8News about the reaction of one of the family members.
“He just said, we’ll get through it and we’re all right…but he was just blessed to be okay, said he didn’t need anything at the time, but I think probably a lot of shock and probably not figured out exactly what he what he needed,” said one of the next-door neighbors.
There have been talks amongst neighbors to set up a GoFundMe for the family and provide them with gift cards.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
