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Police release names of husband, wife killed in massive Urbanna marina fire

Posted at 3:33 PM, Mar 02, 2016
and last updated 2016-03-02 15:34:47-05

URBANNA, Va. – Virginia State Police have released the names of the husband and wife killed in Monday morning's Dozier Port Urbanna Marina fire.

Sgt.Michelle Anaya with Virginia State Police said 75-year-old Francis Xavier Blantz and 65-year-old Julia J. Blantz died in the blaze. Both lived in the 200 block of Marston Avenue in Urbanna.

Officials said the cause of the blaze remains unknown and that the investigation is on-going.

The inferno also destroyed 20 boats.

"You can see how all of this stuff is just washed up,” said Bill Hight, a close friend of the victims, told WTVR Tuesday.

"What you had was burning boats going by,” said Hight looking at the charred docks where dozens of boats went up flames.

Cell phone video captured the inferno as the sun rose in the sky early Monday morning.

“That was a very somber, somber day,” Hight said.

Marina fire in Urbanna (PHOTO: Dave Lipscombe)

Marina fire in Urbanna (PHOTO: Dave Lipscombe)

It was also painful for Hight after he learned his close friends died in the fire.

He described the couple as good hearted people.

"They were just people who enjoyed the marina life and boating, which is a big part of our economy in Middlesex County,” Hight said.

Hight said the victim's had been living on the marina in a 50-foot yacht while their Urbanna home was under renovations.

"It was a beautiful boat that they had bought a couple of years ago,” he said.

His own 50-foot boat sustained $4,000 worth of damage from the fire.  Hight said he is thankful it can be repaired, but  what still haunts him is that his friends lost their lives in that marina.

"Everybody that knew them….liked them and missed them so much today,” he said.

The tragedy has Hight and others wondering what went wrong.

"I certainly hope that they can get that taken care of,” Hight said. “So the cleanup can really begin and we can get back to whatever normalcy we're going to have.”

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