The smell of smoke lingered in the air Monday after a fire gutted a Rockbridge County home, leaving an elderly woman displaced.
The fire broke out at 33 Bardis Lane, just east of Mountain View Elementary School, around 4 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 9, Rockbridge County Fire-Rescue Chief Nathan Ramsey reported.
“Firefighters found a single- story home with heavy fire showing through the roof near the center of the structure,” he said.
Buena Vista Police Department officers were able to establish that an elderly woman who lived inside the home alone had managed to get out.
She was evaluated by Lexington Rescue and taken to the hospital, but she didn’t appear have significant injuries, Ramsey said.
She has not been identified.
Units from the Lexington, Buena Vista, South River, Kerrs Creek, Natural Bridge, Glasgow and Raphine fire departments also responded as well as the Rockbridge County Sheriff’s Office.
Crews remained on the scene for around four hours, Ramsey said. No firefighters were injured and there were no pets in the house.
On Monday, crime scene tape was still strung across the home and a nicely-manicured lawn. A stone sign on the side of the house read “Bardis.” It appeared that the home is a total loss.
Neighbors told the News-Gazette that they were on a camping trip at Cave Mountain Lake and didn’t hear the news until they drove back into cellphone range.
“I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it,” neighbor Lloyd said. “Everything’s gone.”
The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined.
