Fires damage two buildings

Published 12:00 am Thursday, February 13, 2003

A resident of a home at 217 Baker St. was taken to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital on Sunday where he was treated and released for burns caused in a house fire.

Phalonda Warren, the resident of the 1-1/2 story wood-frame structure, was found in his bedroom when a search team entered the burning home to locate him. Firefighters carried him from the house and he was first taken to Obici Hospital and later transported to Norfolk.

Warren’s home, valued at $25,000, sustained $10,000 in damages, with another $4,000 to the contents valued at $7,500.

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According to Captain Jim Judkins of the Suffolk Fire Department, the fire was called in at 4:19 a.m., and it has been determined the cause of the blaze was a pot of food left cooking on the kitchen range.

Other agencies responding to the fire were the Nansemond-Suffolk Volunteer Rescue Squad, Dominion Power, the Suffolk Water Department, and the Suffolk Police.

In another incident at 11:09 Monday morning, Producer’s Peanut Company had another fire in the exhaust pipes of a skin house at the plant located at 337 Moore Ave.

The fire was first spotted and reported by off-duty firefighter Mike Parker.

He saw smoke and fire emanating from the building where the peanut skins are blown through a huge exhaust vent pipe on top of the roof.

When the vent become overheated due to a clog of peanut skins in the large pipe they caught fire.

Blazes were contained to the main plant, and the piping had to be dismantled before the fire could be completely extinguished.

Again, the rescue squad, police and employees from Schadel Sheet Metal Works were on the scene.

A damage estimate to the skin house was not available.