Fire Damages House in Roanoke
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Sunday, March 27, 2005
Fire damages house in Roanoke
The Roanoke Times e-mail this story Printer-friendly version
A torch used for soldering pipes sparked a fire in the insulation of a house in the 700 block of Marshall Avenue Southwest on Saturday afternoon.
Charles Washington, a contractor working on the house, said he was replacing the house’s pipes that had burst during the winter when the torch he was using ignited the insulation. “I was trying to grab it [the insulation] to put it out but it [the fire] shot up ahead,” he said.
Firefighters received the call about 5:20 p.m. and were on the scene within a minute, said Capt. Todd Stone, acting battalion chief with the Roanoke Fire-EMS Department.
“Fortunately the firehouse is less than a block away,” he said, adding that the fire caused less than $1,000 in damage to the Old Southwest house.
“Older neighborhoods like this, the fire can get going quickly, you just never know. This one we caught quickly.”
Washington said he would resume work on the house next week, but without the torch.
- David Harrison
