Suffolk News-Herald

Two separate kitchen fires sent residents and a firefighter to Obici Hospital Monday evening, and fire investigators are still trying to determine the cause of one of the blazes.

The first fire took place at 219 Webb St. at 6:23 p.m., when a fire started in the kitchen and spread up the wall to an upstairs bathroom.

Engine Company No. 3 arrived on scene at 6:29 p.m., and reported smoke coming from the second floor.

The resident of the home, Mayfield Dickens, 84, and a Suffolk Firefighter, Jerome Freeman, 30, were treated and released from the emergency room after suffering slight burns.

The owner of the property is Thurman Pallfio, of Fredericksburg, and the house is valued at $65,000. It sustained $20,000 in damages and the resident lost $5,000 worth of the $20,000 in contents. It is unknown at this time if the owner had insurance on the property.

Suffolk Public Utilities also responded to the scene to secure running water from a ruptured line.

In the second fire, Suffolk firefighters from Engine Company No. 5 arrived at a home in the 6300 block of Scottsfield Drive at 9:45 a.m., to find the occupant suffering from severe burns over most of her body.

Corey Scott, 31, told firefighters she was burned as she attempted to extinguish a grease fire by throwing flour onto it. According to Emergency Management Coordinator Captain James T. Judkins, dust on the floor ignited, causing the burning grease to splash her. She was treated at the scene by Suffolk Fire and Rescue Paramedics and transported to Sentara Norfolk General Hospital by Nightingale Air Ambulance Service.

Oddly enough, the only fire damage reported to the residence was a small burned area on the kitchen floor. Fire officials said the $135, 000 home, sustained only $500 in damage to the floor.