HANOVER COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A local community is in shock following the death of one of their neighbors in a Thursday night apartment building fire in Hanover County.
At 7:46 p.m. on Jan. 11, Hanover Fire and EMS responded to the 7100 block of New Hunter Road for a reported structure fire. Once at the scene, first responders saw smoke coming from a two-story apartment building.
Nearby resident, Kimberly Baber, saw the whole thing unfold when she was leaving the complex’s laundromat.
“They were running in and out, getting everybody out of the building,” Baber said. “We didn’t know at that point what was going on.”
Fire crews were able to locate a fire in a ground floor apartment. Inside, they found one person dead. They have yet to be identified.
Baber said it was difficult to hear this news because of how tight-knit the community is.
“This neighborhood that we live in, it’s an older generation — a lot of people don’t move out,” Baber said. “You get close to these people, and usually, when they do leave, they pass or something like that.”
A spokesperson for Hanover Fire and EMS said it is believed the fire started in or around the kitchen area of the unit, but the department is still working to determine the cause.
In the aftermath, the department is reminding people to check their smoke detectors as often as they can to help prevent any more tragedies.
As for Baber, she said it will be difficult to see one less neighbor around.
“Whether you really know the person, or as an acquaintance of that person — it still affects everybody, because it’s your home,” Baber said.
