Source Bristol Herald Courier, Va.
Nov. 13--BRISTOL, Va. -- One man died and his wife and child were injured when their home at the corner of Douglas Street and Fairmount Avenue caught on fire Saturday morning.
David A. Osborne, 31, of the 300 block of Douglas Street, was rescued from his still-blazing living room, and taken to Bristol Regional Medical Center. There he was pronounced dead, according to a written statement from the Bristol Virginia Fire Department.
His wife and their 2-year-old son were outside of the home when firefighters arrived. They were both treated at the hospital and then released Saturday afternoon.
The fire started about 11 a.m., Fire Chief J.C. Bolling said. A preliminary investigation suggests that the flames started in the living room, he said. The fire might have started in a recliner in that room, investigators said.
"From the looks of the house, the fire was coming out of the living room area and the side," Bolling said.
Investigators with the fire department, Bristol, Va., police detectives and the Bristol Tennessee Fire Marshal will continue their investigation into the cause of the fire, according to a news statement released later Saturday.
Inside the house, firefighters found the remains of a smoke detector that did not have a battery, the statement said.
"The best protection is to have working smoke detectors," Bolling said. "It's not the fire that will get you -- it's the smoke."
One of the Osbornes' neighbors who saw the fire said the family was always kind to her family.
"We knew them, they fixed our windows," said Laura King, who lives across the street. "They were really sweet people."
King said she was cooking breakfast with her children when she saw commotion outdoors.
"The first thing I noticed was people running down the road," she said.
She said she didn't know why they were running until she saw the fire trucks and ambulances arrive.
"My first thought was, 'Oh my goodness, they have kids,' " King said.
She said the whole thing was scary.
"I've driven by and seen stuff but never seen anything in front of my house like that," she said.
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