A home in the 10700 block of Woods Cross Road in Gloucester sustained around $30,000-$40,000 in damages on Sunday after a fire that started in the kitchen spread up an interior wall and into a bedroom above.
Gloucester Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad Chief 4 Robert Yeager said that firefighters arrived at the unoccupied dwelling in late afternoon to see smoke smoldering through an upstairs bedroom window that had been broken out by the heat. The fire was able to spread up the wall and through the upstairs floor because it was an old farmhouse built with balloon construction, he said.
The fire occurred during a thunderstorm and could have been caused by a lightning strike or could have been due to some other electrical issue, said Yeager.
Three engines, a tanker, a rescue truck, and a medic unit responded from GVFRS, along with 12-15 personnel, said Yeager. Mathews County Volunteer Fire Department responded to a call for mutual aid, sending an additional engine and a tanker and eight mo...