FORT LEE -- A military duplex at Fort Lee where two people were found dead after a predawn fire today had working smoke detectors, the post’s fire chief said.
"They are all hard-wired with battery backup,” said Chief Thomas Bahr of the Fort Lee Fire & EMS. “There’s one in each level and they’re also located in all the bedrooms. We did determine that all those were working.”
Bahr said firefighters located two people inside the two-story duplex after knocking down the flames and conducting a search. “We pulled one of them out, assessed that person’s (condition) and determined that that person was dead.”
The other victim was obviously deceased, Bahr said. He declined to identify them by name, age or gender until their next of kin had been notified.
The victims’ bodies were taken to the Portsmouth Naval Hospital for autopsies, Bahr said.
“Fort Lee is kind of like family down here with the Army, and they want to do things right,” Bahr said. “Fort Lee lost two of its own and it’s significant because we don’t have a lot of fires in Fort Lee comparably to any of the other localities around us. So this is going to take a little bit for the community to get over in that respect.”
The chief said the post has very few fires “because we’re in a controlled environment.”
Bahr said the post’s housing units are checked at least every six months. There are fire walls between the duplex units but the residences to not have sprinkler systems, he said.
The cause of the fire has not been determined, the chief said. The deaths are the first at the sprawling army post some 20 miles south of Richmond in at least 20 years.
Bahr provided this account of the blaze:
Fort Lee fire units were dispatched at 2:50 a.m. by the Prince George County emergency communication center for a smoke alarm at the duplex, whose precise location is being withheld by post officials.
When units arrived within seven minutes, they discovered a fire in the unit adjacent to residence where the victims were found. Flames had burned through the wall of the victims’ unit into the neighboring family’s residence, Bahr said.
“The family (of the adjoining unit) were all outside and waiting for our personnel to arrive,” the chief said.
Firefighters then forced open the victims’ residence after no one answered the door.
Meanwhile, Fort Lee fire officials called on the Hopewell and Colonial Heights fire departments for assistance. Hopewell sent an engine and ambulance to the scene and Colonial Heights provided back-up assistance by manning a Fort Lee fire station.
“So we weren’t leaving Fort Lee uncovered … because everybody else was at the fire,” Bahr said.
The fire was marked under control at 3:45 a.m. Bahr said the Army’s Criminal Investigative Division will conduct an investigation in conjunction with Fort Lee Fire & EMS. A Colonial Heights fire investigator will also assist.
The daily population of Fort Lee averages about 34,000 people and includes members from all branches of the military service, their families, government civilians and contractors, according to the post’s website.
Although the investigation is on-going, Bahr said the fire at this point is not considered suspicious.
