Flames greet family during move to Campbell County

Brad McDouall put a trashcan lid full of wet, soot-covered Beanie Babies on the trunk of his car to dry in the sun while he continued to dig through the wreckage of the house his family was preparing to call home.

The stuffed animals belong to his daughter. He hopes some can be washed and salvaged, but many were too badly burned.

The Fairfax man drove to Lynchburg to examine the damage to his home in the Wildwood neighborhood in Campbell County after authorities called his wife, Beth, early Tuesday to tell the family that their new home was in flames.

“We will rebuild, but it will take some time,” McDouall said. “It’s a blessing that we weren’t in the house yet.”

McDouall closed on the house at 132 Catalpa Road in April and had planned to move in next month. The family was renovating the house and already had moved in some of their items.

The front of the two-story house is all that remains. The fire started in the back corner of the second story of the house and likely smoldered for some time before it got large enough for the neighbors to notice, said Jerry Womack, chief of the Brookville-Timberlake Volunteer Fire Department.

Randall Johnson, assistant fire marshal for Campbell County, said the 911 call came from a neighbor at 5:01 a.m.

The Brookville-Timberlake Volunteer Fire Department responded with the assistance of the Lyn-Dan Heights Volunteer Fire Department and the Campbell County Rescue Squad.

“Right now it is still under investigation,” Johnson said. “We are still checking on a few loose ends.”

One of those is the possibility of a lightning strike from Monday night’s storms.

“When we got there, the house was fully involved and the roof had already caved in,” said Womack.

About 40 firefighters responded and had the blaze under control in less than 30 minutes. They were on the scene until 9 a.m. Tuesday extinguishing hotspots, Womack said.

By the time a neighbor called in the fire, flames were already burning through the roof, he said.

The house is set back from the road on five acres and is surrounded by trees, making it almost invisible from the street.

Over the past month, the family had rented trailers and moved boxes of books, toys and other belongings into their new home. They chose to move to Lynchburg for its quality of life.

“It seems like a really nice place to live,” McDouall said.

The three children already are enrolled in area schools, so he said he plans to rent a place until the family can rebuild. The house was insured.

Many of McDouall’s books had been moved, including old computer programming books from when that was his profession. He sorted through them Tuesday afternoon, looking for ones that could be saved.

“My wife wanted me to get rid of these books,” McDouall said as he brushed soot off the spines. “I guess I can now.”