Storms may hold clue to Lynch Station fire

By Carrie J. Sidener

Published: April 28, 2008

Investigators are looking at whether thunderstorms played a role in the fatal fire that killed a Lynch Station couple Saturday.

Campbell County Fire Marshal Rodney Lawson said his team is pulling weather report and lightning strike data from Saturday morning to see if there were storms in the area of Joseph and Linda Ruth Toms’ house around the time the fire broke out, believed to be between 6 and 7 a.m.

Lawson said there is no reason to suspect the fire was intentionally set.

The Toms, who lived in the 600 block of Leewood Road just off of Dearing Ford Road in Lynch Station, died in the fire that consumed their home, leaving just a foundation and the deck. Also killed in the fire was the couple’s dog, Gizmo.

Lawson said he is also looking at wind data.

“The wind data helps us explain how the fire evolved and why certain parts of the structure burned and why the neighbors did or did not smell anything burning,” Lawson said.

The home did have smoke detectors, but Lawson does not know if they were working.

The call to 911 came at 7 a.m., when a neighbor saw the home in flames.

Lawson said the Altavista Fire Department responded in less than 15 minutes, which is within the average response time in Campbell County.

“It would not have changed the outcome, even if they had been on the scene the moment the call came in,” Lawson said. “When the neighbor called in the fire, it was fully engulfed.”

Autopsies will be performed on the couple.

Lawson expects investigators to be on scene again to look at burn patterns and search for the ignition site of the fire this morning.