DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. — A Dinwiddie County man died after a fire broke out inside his home early Thursday morning in the 13000 block of Glebe Road.
According to Fire Chief David Kissner, a smoke detector woke up a woman who lived in the home.
"She went to the back, found the back bedroom on fire, contacted 911," Kissner said.
Firefighters from four county departments were dispatched to the scene and were advised on the way that there was possibly a trapped occupant.
"Units were met by an occupant who had escaped, who stated that there was a person in a back bedroom," Kissner explained.
When first responders arrived, they encountered heavy fire coming from the left side of the house.
Firefighters immediately entered rescue mode and made their way inside, but faced "heavy fire load in the bedroom where the occupant was," according to Kissner.
Neighbor Kathy Lycett was emotional about the loss of her longtime neighbor.
"I cried before I knew what was going on. I stood right there and cried," Lycett said. "He was a great guy. He'd always talk to you. They'd come over and visit, we'd come visit them. But he's worked hard all his life."
"He was a good guy. We're going to miss him," she added.
Due to the rural location, tanker trucks were used to shuttle water to the scene.
The name of the victim is not being released pending notification of family members.
Sheriff's investigators are working to determine the cause of the fire, while the State Medical Examiner's Office will determine the exact cause of death.
Kissner noted that for firefighters who deal with extreme circumstances like fatal house fires, peer support is offered to help them process what they experience.
"Now we're seeing so many bad incidents, so many bad scenes, that we need to go ahead and get this stuff and to break it down and have those talks," Kissner said. "Back in the day, we weren't lucky enough to have those talks and have these peer groups, but now we have them and we utilize them."
CBS 6 is committed to sharing community voices on this important topic. Email your thoughts to the CBS 6 Newsroom.
📲: CONNECT WITH US
Blue Sky| Facebook| Instagram| X| Threads| TikTok| YouTube
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
