Madison Heights fire damages home

A late-night fire in Madison Heights severely damaged a home off Main Street on Friday night, according to county authorities.

Amherst County Public Safety Director Gary Roakes said dispatchers were alerted to the fire at about 11:30 p.m., when a Lynchburg police officer headed back to the city noticed the fire.

Roakes said fire crews were able to contain the blaze to its room of origin, a bedroom in the house, but the room and its contents were destroyed.

The rest of the house suffered smoke damage, and Roakes said the roof sustained structural damage.

No one was at home at the time of the fire, Roakes said, and no one was injured in the blaze, which he said was electrical in nature.

The renters, he said, did not have insurance.

The Monelison and Pedlar volunteer fire departments responded to the scene, along with the Amherst Fire Department, Amherst County Department of Public Safety, the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office and Virginia State Police.