JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. (WAVY) — One person is dead and two people are in the hospital after a house fire on the 100 block of Tarleton Bivouac in James City County.
Officials say it happened just after 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they were confronted with heavy smoke and told that people were still inside the home. Crews removed three people from the home.
“I’m pretty speechless about it. I feel awful,” said Elizabeth Ottenheimer, who lives across the street.
Ottenheimer watched as several fire trucks and an ambulance lined the street Tuesday morning.
“It just breaks my heart. We kept looking through the window, we were praying for them,” Ottenheimer told 10 On Your Side.
A chain-link fence, red shutters and white siding – from the front, the single-family home looks like any other. The inside, neighbors say, was ravaged by fire and smoke. Scattered belongings and a screen door lay in the front yard.
A 50-year-old man died at the scene. His 81-year-old mother was taken to Riverside Doctors Hospital Williamsburg in serious condition. His 83-year-old father was flown by helicopter to VCU Medical Center in Richmond with serious injuries.
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.
