Update: Three Confirmed Dead in House Fire

By WYDaily Staff Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Area firefighters and James City County police investigators are on the scene of an early morning house fire that left three people dead.

Firefighters were called to a single-family, two-story home in the 8600 block of Pocahontas Trail in the Grove neighborhood shortly after 1:30 a.m. The home was engulfed in flames, and an adult male resident was hanging out a second story window.

Firefighters were able to rescue the 33-year-old man, who told them there were three other adult relatives trapped inside. Firefighters were able to get just inside the home, where they found one adult collapsed on a staircase. They pulled the victim from the home, but the person was dead.

James City County Fire Department District Chief Bob Ryalls said firefighters succeeded in knocking down the fire so they could enter, but then the second story partially gave way and rescuers had to retreat.

The bodies of the missing two adults were discovered inside the home around 10 a.m., Ryalls said. The survivor and victims have not yet been identified.

The county's fire marshal is working with James City County police investigators to determine the cause of the fire. The victims have been transported to the medical examiner's office, where cause of death will be determined.

Ryalls said the house did have power at the time of the fire; fire officials had to call Dominion Virginia Power soon after arriving at the home because power was "arcing," he said.

Firefighters train by preparing for the worst, Ryalls said, but "you are never prepared to lose someone" to a house fire.

More information will be posted as updates are available.