Two fires keep Lynchburg Fire Department busy

Two structure fires that started within 15 minutes of each other kept the Lynchburg Fire Department’s hands full Tuesday evening.

One blaze left six people homeless and the other heavily damaged a one-time motorcycle shop.

The first happened at about 5:48 at a former commercial motorcycle shop on Carroll Avenue.

Lynchburg Battalion Chief Paul Kilgore said a Concord family owns what used to be the Insane Obsessions shop, and some family members were at the shop Tuesday working on a vehicle.The fire destroyed the structure’s roof, as well as the building’s plumbing. Kilgore estimated about $75,000 worth of damage.

The fire is still under investigation, he said, but it appeared that a child playing with matches or a lighter caused the blaze.

At 6:01 p.m., with firefighters still responding to the first call, the second call came in for a structure fire at a duplex on Bedford Avenue, with initial reports indicating a child was possibly trapped inside.

Lynchburg Deputy Fire Chief Walt Bailey said that fortunately, the two children living in that house, 2 and 4 years old, got out of the house unhurt.

He said the fire is under investigation and would not speculate about the cause.

Hubert Lee, the children’s step-grandfather, said he and his wife were home when the fire broke out.

Lee, 72, said the family, along with the children’s mother, had been living at the house for almost a year.

Bailey said Lee’s side of the building suffered heavy structural damage, and no one would be able to live there until the building was repaired. He did not have an estimate on how long that would take.

Bailey said another resident lived in the other side of the duplex and would only be displaced until the building’s power could be restored.

Workers from the Historic Virginia Chapter of the American Red Cross were on the scene to help the victims with lodging and supplies.

Both fires required a full response from the fire department, and together tied up seven fire engines, two ladder trucks, a rescue unit, two medic units and both battalion chiefs — a response that Kilgore said totaled more than 40 people.

Bailey said the Monelison Volunteer Fire Department, the Brookville-Timberlake Volunteer Fire Department, and the Forest Fire Company each sent units to man the holes in Lynchburg’s system caused by the two fires.

Hubert Lee, of Lynchburg, sits in front of his Bedford Avenue house while Lynchburg Fire Marshal Greg Wormser surveys the damage caused by a blaze in the back of the house.
DAVE THOMPSON/THE NEWS & ADVANCE