Fire displaces family

A family of four escaped injury after an early-morning fire engulfed and destroyed their East Chandler Street home Friday.

“I almost left the dog, but I got it,“ said Shirlena Bowles, 14, walking away from her burnt house toward a nearby relative’s home around 7:45 a.m.

The Floyd T. Binns Middle School student said it was the smell of smoke that woke her up just after 6 a.m.

“I have asthma and so I was breathing the smoke and choking,“ said Bowles.

She said her mother, sister and sister’s boyfriend were all sleeping in the house when the fire broke out.

“My sister and her boyfriend started screaming and I could see some smoke so I just went out the backdoor,“ said Shirlena Bowles. She didn’t know what caused the fire.

Family on the scene said her father, Gregory Bowles, who was at work in Fairfax at the time of the fire, owns the house. They said the affected household has lots of family in the area and would have someplace to stay.

The house fire at 416 E. Chandler St., just a short walk from the town’s light and power facility, was reported around 6:15 a.m. Friday, said 1st Lt. Dickie Thomas with the Culpeper County Volunteer Fire Department Co. 1.

When crews arrived, the first floor of three-story home was totally engulfed, he said.

Thomas said the fire was concentrated on the first floor and the cause is unknown. Heavy fire was also billowing out of the second floor and attic, he said.

By 8 a.m., no fire was visible, only the charred remains of a house. The house next door, to the left, also appeared to sustain damage to its siding.

Thomas considered the Bowles’ house a total loss, but said he would leave it up to the insurance company to decide that.

Fire crews from Remington, Reva, Salem and Brandy Station also assisted in putting out the fire. Culpeper Volunteer Rescue Squad Co. 11 and Culpeper County career rescue staff were on scene as well, but no injuries were reported.