A brand new microwave may have been the source of a fire that destroyed a Campbell County woman’s home Saturday afternoon.
Shirley Oakes, 80, had lived at her house on Jefferson Drive, off of Rainbow Forest Drive in the Timberlake area, for 21 years.
She said she had just bought a new microwave to replace her old model, which was about 20 years old.
“I had just made a sweet potato pudding and I put it in there,” she said. “I was going down in the basement.”
Next thing she knew, there was a bang and the house was on fire.
“I looked up and flames were going across my ceiling,” she said.
She wasn’t able to get her phone to work, so a neighbor called 911.
Deputy Chief Mike Mays, of the Brookville-Timberlake Volunteer Fire Company, said the emergency call came at about 1:40 p.m.
“There was a lot of fire coming out of the garage area and the front window,” he said.
“Around the back, it had blown out their windows.”
Mays said at first, firefighters attempted to enter the house, but were overcome by the heat and smoke, so they pulled out to fight the fire from the outside.
“It was kind of difficult to put out just because we couldn’t make entry into the house,” Mays said.
The house was a complete loss.
“It looks like most of the damage was in the kitchen area,” said Mays. “It’s where the hottest spots were.”
“I was afraid it was going to come over and catch my house on fire, because it was spreading so rapidly,” said Oakes’ next-door neighbor Tammy Glass.
Glass said the wooded area around the house was also a concern, but firefighters were able to douse the blaze before it spread beyond Oakes’ home.
Oakes said after initially leaving her house, she went back in to retrieve her Miniature Dachshund, Bobo.
“I said no way is he going to be left,” said Oakes.
The Historic Virginia Chapter of the American Red Cross is assisting Oakes with lodging, food and necessities.
John White, a Red Cross representative at the scene, said they were able to secure a motel where both Oakes and her dog could stay.
“I can’t imagine any hotel wouldn’t want (Bobo) in it,” said Oakes.
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