‘It’s tragic’: Neighbors react to fire in Chesterfield that displaced 3 people

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A family is without a home after a fire ripped through their house on Wednesday morning. According to an official with Chesterfield County Fire and EMS, the blaze started in the garage. “Sad ... Tragic,” said Suzy and Rob Lias, who live up the street from where the fire broke out, the debris from the devastation still lying in the yard. Firefighters arrived at the home on Carters Way Road just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4. By that time, the flames had engulfed the entire garage and had started to spread to the rest of the house. A family car was almost destroyed -- and is still trapped inside the garage. “All you can think about is, you know, the safety of the family and you think about, you know, you've got to have a plan,” Suzy Lias said. “It's so unanticipated and there's no time to react when something like that happens.” (Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS) Chesterfield Firefighters got the fire under control in under an hour and nobody was hurt. “They survived," Rob Lias said. “I mean, they're going to be going through a lot of challenges. But you know what they got? They got their family.” The Liases say that Wednesday's fire brings back memories of when there was a similar fire in the area about 15 years ago that also displaced a family. However, that fire didn't occur three weeks before Christmas Day, like this one. “It is the beginning of December and maybe they didn't have all their Christmas already paid for and under the tree," Suzy Lias said. "I mean, yeah, it has a big impact because we're all pinched in these tough economic times anyway.” The family who lived at the home is receiving assistance from the Red Cross. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Dec 4, 2024 - 22:00

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CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A family is without a home after a fire ripped through their house on Wednesday morning. According to an official with Chesterfield County Fire and EMS, the blaze started in the garage.

“Sad ... Tragic,” said Suzy and Rob Lias, who live up the street from where the fire broke out, the debris from the devastation still lying in the yard.

Firefighters arrived at the home on Carters Way Road just after 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4. By that time, the flames had engulfed the entire garage and had started to spread to the rest of the house. A family car was almost destroyed -- and is still trapped inside the garage.

“All you can think about is, you know, the safety of the family and you think about, you know, you've got to have a plan,” Suzy Lias said. “It's so unanticipated and there's no time to react when something like that happens.”

(Photo: Chesterfield Fire and EMS)

Chesterfield Firefighters got the fire under control in under an hour and nobody was hurt.

“They survived," Rob Lias said. “I mean, they're going to be going through a lot of challenges. But you know what they got? They got their family.”

The Liases say that Wednesday's fire brings back memories of when there was a similar fire in the area about 15 years ago that also displaced a family. However, that fire didn't occur three weeks before Christmas Day, like this one.

“It is the beginning of December and maybe they didn't have all their Christmas already paid for and under the tree," Suzy Lias said. "I mean, yeah, it has a big impact because we're all pinched in these tough economic times anyway.”

The family who lived at the home is receiving assistance from the Red Cross. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.