By Taylor Boyd and Debbie Hall
A woman apparently succumbed in a Sunday blaze at 1609 Russell Creek Road in Stuart, according to fire officials and authorities.
Patrick County Sheriff Dan Smith said the remains of Brenda G. Christian, 74, were transported to the Medical Examiner’s office in Roanoke to determine the cause of death.
Foul play is not expected, Smith added.
Buddy Dollarhite, chief of the Stuart Volunteer Fire Department, said the fire call was received at 12:40 p.m. and the department was toned out at 12:42 p.m.
“We were on the scene about 10 minutes later,” he said. “Once we got on the scene – a single-story, wood-framed house – we had fire blowing out the front door. We were told that a resident was still inside, and we knocked the fire down as quickly as we possibly could.”
Christian was located about 20-minutes after the department arrived at the scene, Dollarhite said.
Based on his understanding, Dollarhite said she was cold and trying to start a fire when something went awry.
“I’m not quite at all sure what happened. That’s up to the investigator to determine all that,” he said.
Smith said his office and a fire investigator with the Virginia State Police are conducting a full investigation of the incident.
“As of this point, there is nothing to indicate arson,” Smith said, adding “the investigation is continuing.”
Dollarhite said the bulk of the fire was knocked down within 20- to 30-minutes of fire crews’ arrival.
“You’ll always have hotspots” remaining, Dollarhite said. “It takes a while to do salvage and overhaul and try to get the hotspots completely cold so the investigator can do his job.”
At least one of the department’s trucks remained at the scene until 6 p.m., Dollarhite said. The body was moved after permission was obtained from the Virginia State Police, which also responded to the scene.
In addition, other agencies responding to the scene were the CCDF Volunteer Fire Department, Patrick Springs Volunteer Fire Department, and Moorefield Store Volunteer Fire Department were also on the scene, along with Station 8 and several members of the Patrick County Sheriff’s Office, Dollarhite and Smith said.
Stuart Volunteer Fire Department had two fire trucks and 12 firefighters at the scene, Dollarhite said. The CCDF had three trucks and three crew members; Moorefield Store had two fire trucks and three crew members, Patrick Springs had two fire trucks and a crew of five, and Station 8 had two ambulances and four crew members at the scene.
