Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992 TAG: 9202120158
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
FIRE DESTROYS FAMILY SHELTER
Fire destroyed a downtown residential shelter for spouse-abuse victims and children early Tuesday.The 12 women and children in the Family Resource Center escaped without injury, thanks to an alarm system installed in the building before it was occupied.
Firefighters from Wytheville and Rural Retreat battled the blaze for more than four hours after it broke out about 2:30 a.m.
The fire apparently started near a boiler in the basement, said Wytheville Public Safety Director Albert Newberry, and quickly spread upward through the hollow walls of the old two-story brick structure.
The Wytheville Fire Department used its new aerial-ladder truck to spray tons of water down onto the building when flames burst through its roof in the 26-degree morning cold. It was the first time the ladder had been used in a two-story fire.
The occupants spent the early morning at the home of Kathy Fisher, the night manager who got them out. A motel made space for them later in the day, and a restaurant provided meals.
"I just can't say enough about Kathy Fisher," said Katie Gifford, center director. "She got everybody out. They couldn't go out the fire escape in the back. It was too smokey. . . . She had to get everybody out the front door."
The youngsters ranged in age from a baby to 12 years.
The Southwest Virginia Enterprise, a newspaper office next door to the shelter, is providing office space through today for staff members. They then are expected to operate out of Mount Rogers Community Mental Health and Mental Retardation Services Board facilities until plans can be made for a new shelter.
"The shelter's not there right now, but the Family Resource Center is," Gifford said. "We will still be providing services to women and shelter will be provided either at area motels or other shelters. . . . I don't know whether we will rebuild that building or demolish it. I've had varying opinions on that so far."
The center will have the same telephone numbers - 228-8431 and 228-7141.
Gifford said assistance from the community had been tremendous, with offers of help coming from businesses and agencies including Lutheran Family Services, the Methodist Church, General Injectables & Vaccines Inc., Days Inn, St. Mary's Catholic Church, Econo Lodge, Presbyterian Children's Home of the Highlands, Shoney's, Pizza Hut, Wythe County Department of Social Services, the Enterprise and fire departments, and offers from individuals to donate goods or volunteer services.
The shelter served victims of abuse from Wythe, Carroll, Grayson, Bland and Smyth counties and the city of Galax. It opened in 1983 in another smaller building owned by the town, and moved to the larger facility on Main Street in 1989.
The new location was renovated and able to accommodate up to 20 spouse-abuse victims and their children, making it one of the largest shelters in Southwest Virginia. The building was purchased in 1988 and a Virginia Housing Development Authority loan on it still is being repaid.
The center has served hundreds of women and children annually. Its other services include a 24-hour telephone line for rape victims, counseling for victims of rape and abuse, classes on parenting skills, and assistance in finding housing, jobs or educational advancement.
It had been exactly one month since the Wythe County Board of Supervisors approved exempting the shelter from county property taxes. Four months ago, volunteers had completed construction of a handicapped access ramp and a privacy fence around the shelter. A mail fund-raising campaign late last year had brought in $1,285 for the shelter, mostly from individuals, in donations ranging from $10 to $250.
At the supervisors' meeting last month, Legal Aid lawyer Maria Timmoney said the shelter protected women and children who were abuse victims until they could go to court and receive protection orders. Sarah Turner, a social worker with Lutheran Family Services, said more youngsters would necessarily have to be placed on foster care or in institutions without the shelter.