Fire displaces family of four

By Jeff Vogel

Published: April 18, 2008

An attic fire broke out shortly after 10 p.m. Thursday at a residence just north of Emerald Hill Elementary School on Rixeyville Road.

According to homeowner Jeff Stables, the fire started after the whole house fan got stuck in the insulation he had put in the attic for the winter. He thinks one of his young sons turned the fan on without his knowing it.

Jeff’s wife, Becca, was the first to notice the fire. She heard her youngest son coughing and took him something to drink. As she exited his bedroom, she looked up and noticed flames coming from the attic.

She and Jeff removed their sons from the house and called 911. Jeff doused the flames and, according to Co. 1 Chief Stacey Carpenter, the fire was all but contained by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.

Culpeper, Little Fork, Brandy Station and Amissville fire crews responded to the incident. No one was injured, but the house sustained smoke and water damage.