A 54-year-old man and an 84-year-old woman lost their lives last week in fires around Stokes County. Ronnie Nelson was unable to be resuscitated at the scene of a fire in Westfield on Tuesday, October 27, and Naomi Smith Slate was found already deceased in her burning home north of Walnut Cove on Saturday, October 31.

In the first fire, calls were dispatched simultaneously to the Stokes County Sheriff’s Department and local fire departments a little after 10 p.m. on October 27. The location of the domestic incident, as well as the blaze, was a rental house at 1081 Bob Lynch Road, on the Pilot Mountain side of Stokes County.

Double Creek, Pilot Knob and Westfield fire departments responded to the call, as did Stokes County Fire Marshal Frankie Burcham. According to requirements, they let the Sheriff’s Department check out the domestic call first, then proceeded to put out the flames which were limited to one room and its contents.

Rescue workers attempted to resuscitate Nelson, but their efforts were unsuccessful. According to Burcham, the fire is still under investigation. The State Bureau of Investigation has been brought in to assist the Stokes County Fire Marshal’s Office and the Stokes County Sheriff’s Department.

The second fire fatality occurred at 3821 Highway 8 South between Meadows and Quaker Gap. The call was dispatched at 8:51 p.m. on Halloween night. Fire departments from South Stokes, Walnut Cove and Danbury responded. By the time they arrived, Slate had already expired in the flames at her house.

According to Burcham who also responded to the call, the fire was probably caused by a tablecloth with its edge too near a portable heater. A rotating electric heater, approximately 14-16 inches tall, was found at the base of a table where the tablecloth had been draped.

Slate, who was blind, lost her husband on October 27 and had buried him just one day before her own death. Burcham says that the 84-year-old had insisted on remaining in her home, despite her physical disability and the urgings of family members.

The fire destroyed the den and carport of Slate’s house, but only smoke damage affected the remainder of the structure. A debriefing designed to help rescue workers and fire fighters deal with the stress of the tragedy was held on Monday night at the South Stokes Fire Department.

“We don’t deal with this [fire fatalities] often,” said Harold Dillman Jr., assistant fire chief of South Stokes Fire & Rescue. Dillman said the critical incident stress debriefing was open to volunteers from all of the responding fire departments.

This tragic fatality provokes Fire Marshal Burcham to reiterate the heater safety warnings he issues every year at about this time. “Winter’s coming,” he stated, “and people are gonna start using all types of heaters.”

Burcham urges residents to make sure everything is serviced before use begins. He cautions them to make sure the devices are unplugged at night or when no one is home and to keep them away from other objects.

The fire-related death of this blind woman also prompts Burcham to inform Stokes County citizens of an innovative project—the physically challenged program—that his office is carrying out. In this potentially lifesaving program, officials from the fire marshal’s office will visit any home where a physically disabled person resides.

A pre-fire plan for the home will be designed. This information will be logged into the county’s emergency 911 system. A tag will be placed on the address and phone number of the residence.

If an emergency arises at that home, the dispatcher would see on the screen that a person with a physical challenge lives at that address. Fire, EMS and law enforcement responders would be notified of that fact which could help them handle the situation more effectively.

Burcham stresses the fact that this program is free to “anyone with any physical disability.” He gives examples of who would qualify—those who are bedridden, hearing-impaired, blind, handicapped in any way, or even substantially obese. The qualifications apply to Stokes County citizens of any age, from infants to the elderly.

For more information on this program, call the fire marshal’s office at 593-2083.