Update: Long Mill Fire
posted 11:24 pm Fri May 09, 2008 - Danville, VA
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Danville's Long Mill Buildings are still smoldering, after a pile of debris there caught fire Thursday. Fire crews have been on the scene all day. All of the homes nearby are considered safe to live in now.
At first, the evacuations were just voluntary. That's right but then, close to 11:00 Thursday night, officials decided that the people living on Farrar Street behind the mill buildings weren't safe for the night. News that caught many of them off guard.
Shelley - "What did it look like from here?"
Dennis Miller - "Terrible, terrible."
Less than 50 yards from Dennis and Virginia Miller's home of 13 years. Flames got dangerously close.
Miller - "We thought we might lose it."
Fortunately, fire crews worked hard to make sure that didn't happen. Just down the street, neighbor Lamar Davis says he was less worried about this blaze.
Lamar Davis, Evacuated from Home - "The ashes were so big and then some of the ashes when they fell, they were still on fire."
And more concerned about his family's health.
Davis - "We don't know what was down there burning in that fire."
Hazmat officials say the air is free of chemicals. But that doesn't mean it's odorless.
Jerry Harris, Evacuated from Home - "The smell today when I came to work, the odor, you know, I had the door open but I had to close it because I started feeling kind of sick."
Jerry Harris actually had to shut down his gas station during the fire... then later move out of his house next-door.
Harris - "I got to bed about 9:00, 10:00, and then about 11:00, the police came, y'all got to leave."
He didn't mind losing some sleep, as long as he's safe. And the Millers didn't mind staying with relatives, as long as they still have a place to call home.
Miller - "I figure, it ain't much, but it's ours."
That decision allowing the neighbors back into their homes was made about 5:00pm. Three ATF agents are in the city right now, helping with the investigation. More are expected Saturday.
A lot of people took pictures. Police are asking that if you saw or photographed anything suspicious, particularly in the early moments of this fire, that you give them a call.
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