Fire destroys Austinville residence

By WAYNE QUESENBERRY/Staff

Jean Stowers can’t describe how she felt Wednesday night as she watched her home on Austinville Road burn. The cancer patient sat in a van in the parking lot of Bethany United Methodist Church across the road from her residence.
“It was awful,” Stowers stated by phone Friday morning. “We lost everything we had.”
Already chilled from a low blood count caused by ovarian cancer, Stowers shivered uncontrollably Wednesday night as wind chills brought temperatures to 0 degrees. She saw firemen struggling with the blaze as sprayed water quickly froze all around the house.
“Ice was all over the road, too,” stated Curt Crawford, chief of the Barren Springs Volunteer Fire Department. “You couldn’t stand up.”
Also assisting were members of the Ivanhoe Volunteer Fire Department. Many of the vehicles lined Austinville Road in front of the house and deputies from the Wythe County Sheriff’s Office directed traffic.
According to Stowers, she had shared the house with William Epperson for 13 years. They were at home Wednesday when the fire began around 8 p.m.
“I’d laid down on my bed,” Stowers recalled. “I wasn’t feeling good. Mr. Epperson had gone to bed, too. Two of my grandchildren were there. A couple of them stay with me most of the time. They take turns staying and helping me.”
Stowers said she heard a popping sound and the lights went out in her room. She called Epperson to check the breaker box.
By this time, Stowers said, her son-in-law, Roger Nester, dropped by the house with food from McDonald’s for his children. He received an electrical shock when he touched the breaker box, according to Stowers.
“We have five fire alarms,” she stated, “two upstairs and two downstairs. One upstairs went off.”
Nester, Stowers said, turned the breaker off and on. When he went upstairs, she stated, he found the room on fire.
“We got the 911 call at 8:38 p.m.,” noted Capt. Keith Dunagan of the Sheriff’s Office. “We had a deputy in that area at the time. He was first on the scene.”
Stowers and her family were out of the house by then. She was alarmed over her prescription medication left behind.
“A deputy went back inside and got Ms. Stowers’ prescriptions,” Dunagan reported.
Firemen and equipment remained at the scene over four hours, according to Crawford. The fire was between the floor and second story, he said.
“It was hard to get to,” Crawford commented. “There was smoke and a lot of flames. It was a total loss. We used between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of water.”
Returning to the firehouse around 1:30 a.m. Thursday, Crawford said, firemen spent an additional two hours thawing frozen hoses. They wanted to be prepared for any more calls they might receive that morning.
“It was 11 degrees on the front porch when got back to the fire house,” Crawford noted. “With the wind chill, it probably was 0 degrees.”
Stowers and Epperson spent the night with Stowers’ daughter and family. They had an appointment with the American Red Cross on Friday morning.
“We’re prepared to help them find lodging, clothing and food,” said Joan Isom, executive director of the Woods River Chapter of the American Red Cross in Galax, which serves Wythe County. “We’re trying to get the message out that we are here to help people in Wythe County.”
Isom also pointed out that a Red Cross representative is available to come to the scene of a fire or other disaster when called. She said the organization can obtain lodging and help replace prescription medication quickly.
According to Stowers, she had an appointment at the cancer center in North Carolina on Thursday morning. She has blood work and two treatments in Mt. Airy and another in Winston-Salem.
“I buried my son December 10th,” Stowers commented. “He was 35. It was probably a heart attack. He had had the flu. He called me every morning. When we didn’t hear from him, we went to Galax to check on him. I had a key to his side door and we found him dead.”
Stowers wears a medium size in jogging pants and a medium or large top. Her shoe size is 8 in athletic styles and 7 to 7 and a half in slippers.
“I can’t wear jeans anymore,” Stowers reported.
Anyone wishing to contribute money, clothing or household items may contact Stowers by cell phone at 620-6162.
Wayne Quesenberry can be reached at 228-6611 or .