Rockingham County Fire and Rescue officials sift through the charred remains of a trailer where two men and a boy died Saturday. The fire, at 19276 Smith Creek Road, occurred shortly before 5 a.m. Three men survived the blaze. (Photo by Preston Knight / DN-R)
The Rockingham County Fire and Rescue Department received an emergency call at 4:45 a.m. for the blaze at 19276 Smith Creek Road, the department's Capt. Mike Armstrong said. Firefighters found the trailer, which sits behind a house under construction on the property, fully involved in flames, said Armstrong, who's an assistant fire marshal for the county.
Three other men were inside the structure and escaped, Armstrong said. The identities and ages of all six occupants were unavailable as of Saturday afternoon, and Armstrong said the names of those who died would not be released until identified by the medical examiner in Roanoke.
According to Armstrong, the men rented the trailer and do not own the property, which is about a half-mile south of the Shenandoah County line. The structure was destroyed.
Of the three men who survived, one was flown to the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville for burns to his back; one was treated and released from Rockingham Memorial Hospital for lacerations to his arm; and one was evaluated at the scene, Armstrong said.
The survivors ran down a gravel driveway to a neighbor’s trailer, who called 911. That resident declined comment Saturday afternoon.
Armstrong said the cause of the fire was under investigation. It was undetermined if the trailer had smoke detectors or if any of the occupants were awake when the fire began.
Responding fire departments were from New Market, Timberville, Broadway and the county. Rescue personnel from Broadway and Harrisonburg also came to the scene. The Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office assisted, too.
Contact Preston Knight at 574-6272 or pknight@dnronline.com
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