Fire chief: Apartment fire looks ‘suspicious’

Local News

January 2, 2009

Anonymous The Register-Herald Fri Jan 02, 2009, 10:28 PM EST

Authorities are still investigating a Beckley West apartment fire that occurred Wednesday morning.

Chief Bruce James of the Bradley-Prosperity Fire Department said the fire looked “suspicious.” He added the state fire marshal would be in next week to pinpoint the definitive cause of the blaze.

Jodia Morton, the resident of the apartment, was at work when she received the call that her apartment was engulfed in flames.

“We lost everything,” Morton said.

The American Red Cross arrived on the scene to provide assistance to Morton and her family.

“We were there to help them as soon as the apartment was on fire. The family was given a debit-style card pre-loaded with $425 so they could purchase new items that they were in most need of,” said Sheri McGraw, director of communications for the Central West Virginia Chapter of the American Red Cross.

“All of our disaster victims get the same kind of assistance for food and clothing,” McGraw said.

The Red Cross uses a formula (how many people are in the family, etc.) to determine how much money is dispersed.

“We’ve had nine families lose homes in Raleigh, Summers and Wyoming counties since Dec. 5. Every year, we hope the numbers are going to be down, but every year it seems like we’re helping more families around Christmas times.”

McGraw says the Red Cross is continually accepting monetary donations.

Any money received is put in a local disaster relief fund to help families such as Morton’s.

— Jackie Ayres

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Fire chief: Apartment fire looks ‘suspicious’

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