Fire guts home

By JEFFREY SIMMONS/Staff

A firefighter was injured and a family pet killed on Monday in a late-evening blaze that gutted a Wytheville residence.
Wytheville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Ronnie King said Capt. Donnie Widner was checked out and released from Wythe County Community Hospital after bits of plaster ceiling fell on him while he was fighting a fire at 1045 4 ½ St.
According to King, firefighters went to the Mark and Sue Stiltner residence at approximately 11:07 p.m. on Monday.
“It (fire) was coming out of two (basement) windows when we got there,” he said.
King said smoke was also coming from windows in the upstairs of the split-level structure.
The occupants were able to get out of the house safely, but a family dog perished in the blaze, King said.
Firefighters from Wytheville and Max Meadows battled the fire for approximately four hours. The Wythe County Rescue Squad also responded.
King said the fire, which possibly started from a heat source in the basement, gutted the older structure but didn’t burn through the roof.
“It would not be livable,” he said.
No other structures were damaged in the fire, which remains under investigation.
Jeffrey Simmons can be reached at 228-6611 or .