Oct. 22--ARRINGTON -- Yellow crime scene tape separated the motor home's charred skeleton from the cinderblock foundation of a burned-out home off Bob's Creek Lane.
Two rusty boats, a flat-bed trailer, a hot tub leaning on its side against a pickup truck and pieces of furniture lay about the yard as investigators worked.
The house burned in March. When the motor home went up Sunday night, two people were killed. Authorities still had not identified the victims as of Monday evening.
NelsonCounty sheriff's Investigator Billy Mays said a neighbor called 911 about 9:30 p.m. By the time firefighters arrived 20 minutes later, the motor home was engulfed in flames, Mays said. The fire was extinguished by about 10:30 p.m., he said. Mays said he had no damage estimate.
State police believe the fire was accidental and "started from sort of a heat source used to warm the inside of the motor home," spokeswoman Corinne Geller said in a news release.
The cause still has not been determined. Special Agent B. Keith Childress, of the state police arson and bomb unit, is leading the investigation.
Whoever lived in the motor home likely relied on propane for heating and cooking, Childress said. He said he found several small containers of propane and a camping stove at the site. The motor home lacked electricity, he said. It was set on blocks, Geller said.
Because of the vehicle's aluminum construction, "it was basically an oven," Childress said. "There was no protection, no fire walls."
A neighbor who declined to be identified said she called 911 after hearing what sounded like gunshots. When the woman went outside to investigate, she said, she saw the motor home in flames.
Copyright 2013 - The Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.
